Pokemon: The Struggle of the Aura
by DarkSlash9
Summary: When an attack from Team Rocket leads everyone to believe that Ash Ketchum is dead, May's life is changed forever. 5 years later, Ash returns, and May's life is complete again. But a great evil is rising, and Ash must use the skills he's learned during his 5 years in the wild to save the world. Ash x May. POLL ON MY PROFILE REGARDING LEMONS. PLEASE VOTE.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there. I'm DarkSlash9. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

Our story begins with a cold winter morning in Kanto. Snow on the ground. Ash had recently returned from the Unova Region, and was spending time with his mother and his Pokemon. Christmas was in one week, and Ash was as happy as could be. He got to spend Christmas with his mother, a rare occurrence since he was usually on a journey during Christmas. Ash woke up to the smell of fresh pancakes. He quickly brushed his teeth and ran downstairs to eat his mother's wonderful cooking, leaving Pikachu asleep in his room.

Half way through breakfast, Ash heard someone knocking on the door of the house. Usually his mom would be the one to open the door, but this time she didn't. She smiled when she heard the knocking. Ash, not noticing the smile, was very confused.

"Mom, there's someone at the door."

"I know. I think you should open it." replied Mrs. Ketchum with a warm smile.

"Okay..."

Ash reluctantly got up from his meal and walked over to the front door.

"Who is it?"

No answer. Shrugging his shoulders, Ash sighed. He then opened the door. As soon as the door was opened, Ash's eyes widened. Standing in his doorway were May and Max Maple. They were holding bags. They immediately dropped their belongings pulled Ash into a group hug.

"ASH! It's been so long since I've seen you!" yelled May as she pulled him into a huge hug. Ash blushed.

"HI ASH!" said Max.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Ash, happy to see his old traveling companions.

"Well... We're kinda spending a month with... you." said May, blushing.

"Really?!" asked Ash, overjoyed.

"Yup! After begging our parents for 2 hours straight, they let us!" said Max.

"Awesome! Come on in!" said Ash.

May and Max entered the Ketchum household. They placed their bags in the living room and sat down. Ash went to the kitchen to go quickly finish his breakfast. After shoving the rest of his pancakes down his throat, he went to go join everyone in the living room. They spoke for hours. Ash told May and Max all his stories about Unova and all of his adventures. He told them about the friends he'd made.

But there was one thing that Ash noticed when he was talking about the friends he'd made in Unova. May's facial expression changed very slightly when Ash started talking about Iris. He decided not to talk about Iris for much longer after noticing that. Once it got dark, Mrs. Ketchum decided to light a fire in the fireplace. Pikachu, finally emerging from Ash's room, entered the room and greeted everyone. He then sat by the fireplace.

Soon, night had fallen, and everyone was getting ready to go to bed. Then Ash asked the question that was on both his and May's minds.

"Hey Mom, where are May and Max going to sleep?"

"Well, May is sleeping in your room, and Max is sleeping in the guest room. You'll be sleeping in the living room." replied Mrs. Ketchum.

"Okay... I'll show May to my room." replied Ash, slightly upset that someone that wasn't him was going to be sleeping in his room. He had nothing to hide in there, but it just didn't sit well with him.

Ash then led May up the stairs. He showed her his room and made sure that everything was comfortable for her. He then went to his closet and grabbed his spare blankets and his inflatable air mattress to use in the living room.

"I guess that's it. If you need anything, you know where to find me," said Ash. "Goodnight."

"Thanks... Goodnight Ash." said May as she hugged him. Ash could've swore he heard her sniffle, but he decided that he was just imagining things.

Ash then walked down the hallway and peeked inside the guest room. Inside was Max, asleep on the bed. Ash smiled and closed the door.

Ash then went to the living room and inflated his air mattress. He placed the sheets on it and positioned himself next to the warmth of the fire. He turned off all the lights and went to sleep. Or at least tried to. The whole day felt too good to be true. He lay there staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. May was on his mind the most.

Before he knew it, two hours had passed. It was 1:00 AM. But Ash was still wide awake. Ash was about to go to the medicine cabinet to go get some sleep pills when he heard footsteps. He sat up and saw what looked like May slowly walking down the stairs. It was hard to tell if it was her or not, since the lights were off. The only light provided was moonlight and the embers that were left in the fireplace. It also looked like she was trying her best not to make any sounds as she made her way to the living room.

"Ash... Are you awake?" she whispered.

"Yep."

"Mind if I join you?"

"I don't mind." said Ash quietly.

May sat next to Ash. Ash sat up and poked the embers of the fire with a stick a few times, causing them to give off a little more light. He could then see May's face better. He saw that her eyes were moist. But she too, looked wide awake.

"May? what's wrong? You don't look like you went to sleep." asked Ash.

"It's just... I've missed you for so long Ash..." said May. She was crying tears of joy. "Life's just not as fun when you're not around."

"I missed you too May... Sinnoh and Unova kinda sucked in comparison the the good times we had in Hoenn." said Ash, putting his arm around May.

"I'm glad we have a whole month together... let's make it a month to remember Ash...Who knows when we'll next see each other." said May, leaning onto Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah..." said Ash.

They stayed quiet for about ten minutes, staring at the embers of the fire. Ash was about to speak again, but he stopped when he heard light snoring coming from May. He too suddenly felt his eyelids get heavier. And just like that, they both fell asleep, leaning into each other, with the embers of the fire and the moon providing the only lighting for the scene.

* * *

The next morning, both Ash and May awoke to the sound of a camera taking a picture.

"GOTCHA! Oooh, this is SO going on the refrigerator!" said Mrs. Ketchum happily.

Ash and May were both confused, until they realized what they were cuddling. They both turned as red as a cherry and quickly separated. They both laughed awkwardly and walked over to the kitchen.

"So..." said Ash, trying to change the subject.

But the subject never had to be changed, for something unexpected happened. A large shadow fell over Pallet Town. Ash ran outside to see the cause of it and what he saw put him in a sour mood. A huge black airship was in the sky, and on the bottom of it, was a big red letter "R". _Team Rocket._

_"What do these goons want?"_ thought Ash.

2 compartment's under the ship opened to reveal large speakers. Out of them blared the most annoying series of sentences Ash had ever heard.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jesse!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! Dats right!"

After hearing that speech, May, Pikachu, and Max ran outside also.

"Hold on guys, I'll take care of these idiots." said Ash.

He then walked inside and went to his room. He opened his drawer and pulled out one of his pokeballs. He then walked back outside and gave May and Max a thumbs up. He then tossed the pokeball and said, "Charizard! I choose you!"

With a flash of red light, Ash's trusty Charizard appeared.

"Rooaaaaooorrrrrgghh!" yelled Charizard.

Ash then climbed onto Charizard's back and Charizard took flight. The battle between Ash and Team Rocket escalated and soon the battle was moved to a gigantic forest nearby. The battle then resumed. Within minutes, Team Rocket's airship was destroyed. Charizard then turned around and began to fly back to Pallet Town. But there was something odd. Team Rocket didn't "Blast Off Again!" Instead, Jesse and James smiled, and pulled out a laser beam. May, who was on the roof of Ash's house along with Pikachu, Max, and Mrs. Ketchum, saw it. It sent chills down her spine. It looked deadly.

"Team Rocket Dark Aura Cannon, FIRE!" yelled Jesse, James and Meowth in unison.

Before Charizard had time to react, his wing was blasted with a beam of a mysterious energy, and he began to fall. The dark energy knocked Charizard unconscious. Ash was also unconscious. Ash fell off of Charizard's back. This sent Jessie and James into fits of maniacal laughter.

May screamed. There was no way Ash or Charizard were going to survive a fall from that high up in the air.

"ASH!" screamed May, tears already running down her face.

Delia and and Max were also yelling. But their screams and cries were not heard. Ash and Charizard fell deep into the forest, with the laughter of Team Rocket echoing in their heads.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sup. DarkSlash9 here with chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

The years that followed Ash and Charizard's fall were the worst of May's life. Team Rocket had flown away, glad to have finally defeated Ash. May and Mrs. Ketchum cried for hours on end. Max locked himself in the visitor's room and refused to come out. Pikachu left to look for Ash. But Pikachu never returned, ever. Many of Ash's pokemon ran away. Finally, Professor Oak decided it would be best to release the ones that didn't run away into the wild. Rescue parties were sent to look for Ash and Charizard's bodies. But they were never found. Ash's friends even joined together to look, but to no avail. For the first few months after the incident, May kept clinging on to the hope that maybe Ash had survived the fall. But with each search party that came back with no results, she lost more hope.

1 year after, when all of Ash's friends and family were finally moving on, May was still a wreck. She resorted to self mutilation to fill the void inside. But it was never enough.

2 years after, May's family found out about what she was doing. She agreed to stop cutting herself, but she refused to seek help. She instead continued her downward spiral and began doing multiple drugs and became an alcoholic at the age of 17.

3 years after, May had attempted suicide. She was overwhelmed by the despair and the memories that flooded her mind on a daily basis. After her failed attempt, she agreed to seek help. She was taken to a mental home, where her family would visit her every weekend.

4 years after, May was on the path to recovery. She began to smile again. She cried less, and began to regain stability in her life. Though she was still mourning over Ash's death.

5 years after, May was finally able to function without the help of a therapist. She was haunted by memories of Ash every now and then, but she was able to cope properly. She was checked out of the mental home, and returned home.

5 months after checking out of the mental home, May, now 19, was at home, napping. Her nap was interrupted when Max, who was now 16, nervously entered her room. He had two tickets in his hand. May woke up and looked at Max.

"Hey Max... *yawn* what's up?" asked May tiredly.

"Well... I know that this isn't going to be an easy decision for you but... would you like to go with me to the Pokemon Trainer All-Star Cup? It's in... Kanto. Only the best of the best are allowed to participate."

May's whole body tensed. She had not been to a Pokemon Trainer tournament since Ash passed. Forget tournaments, she hadn't even been able to go to her father's Gym because of the painful memories seeing a pokemon trainer would bring back. She didn't even try going anywhere near Kanto either. But she decided that she would go, for Max's sake. So after 30 seconds of thinking, May replied.

"Okay Max. I'll go with you." said May with a weak smile.

"Really? Alright! The tournament is in two days! Our flight is tomorrow morning! Pack your things!"

"Okay." said May. Max then left the room. May sighed and got up from her bed. She walked over to the mirror that hung on her wall and looked around it. She had pictures of all of her friends hung up on the wall. Zoey, Drew, Brock, Dawn, Misty, and Gary... She had everyone. Everyone except Ash. She then looked at her arms, which were covered with the fading scars that she gave herself four years prior. She felt her eyes tearing up.

_"Oh Ash... Am I really ready for this?"_ May thought to herself as she fought back the tears that were slowly falling.

But what everyone didn't know was that Ash never died...

* * *

_5 years ago... On the day of the incident..._

Falling. Falling. Laughing. Laughing. That's all Ash could comprehend as he and Charizard fell through the air. Death seemed inevitable. But it was not part of fate's plans.

In the forest was a stray Lucario. He had no home, and no master. He was hatched from his egg in that same forest and learned the powers of aura alone. Everyday consisted of the same things. He always longed for a master to call his own, but being abandoned as an egg made it quite hard to find one.

As he was walking on his path to a nearby river, on his daily water break, he felt the force of gravity around him increase slightly. He knew that an increase of gravity meant a dark presence or energy was nearby. He looked around, trying to find the source of this dark power. He then looked up and witnessed a 15 year old boy and a Charizard being blasted with a dark red energy right above him. They began to fall. Using his mastery of aura, the Lucario quickly formed a net made of aura to catch them with. The Charizard came down first, and landed safely in the net. But the boy wasn't as lucky. He landed in the net, but his weight combined with the Charizard's caused the net to snap, which resulted in the boy landing on his head.

The Lucario walked over to the two bodies and saw that the Charizard had an injured wing. But it was no normal injury. The wing looked burnt, and was smoking, but was ice cold to the touch. Lucario felt like he'd seen that type of wound before... But Lucario came to the decision that he would think about it later. He quickly used his aura to heal the Charizard's wing. The wing slowly returned back to normal. Lucario sighed in relief and walked over to the boy. He started healing the boy's head. Right when he was about to finish, he noticed how powerful the boy's inner aura was.

After noticing the large reserves of potential power deep inside the boy, the Lucario quickly cast an aura cloak on the scene, making it invisible to anyone or anything that does not have the power of aura.

Ash woke up a week after the incident, dazed and confused. He looked around and saw that he was surrounded by trees. He couldn't remember anything. The only thing he remembered was the word "May." He didn't know who that was, or if it was even a name to begin with. He looked around once again, still confused.

"Where am I?" he thought aloud. "Better question, WHO am I?"

_"Ash Ketchum." _said a voice in Ash's mind.

"Who's Ash Ketchum?" asked Ash, confused. He then looked around once again, to see where the voice had come from.

_"You." _said Lucario as he and Charizard emerged from behind a couple of trees.

"Woooaaaaah a Lucario AND a Charizard!" said Ash in awe.

Charizard looked at Ash with his head tilted, confused as to why Ash didn't recognize him.

_"Ash. This is **your** Charizard." _said Lucario.

"Really?!"

_"Yes. Do you remember anything about your life at all?" _asked Lucario.

"No..."

_"It seems you have amnesia. Fortunately Charizard here has not lost any memory. I shall tell you what he told me."_

Lucario told Ash what he had learned. Charizard was only able to tell Lucario what he was around for, therefore not giving Ash a thorough explanation of his situation. Ash was not told about May. But Charizard _was_ able to tell Lucario about the dark energy he and Ash were zapped with.

After hearing everything, Ash looked like he was in deep thought. Then finally, he spoke, "So what are we going to do about this mega-evil energy that these 'Team Rocket' guys have?"

_"Well, if this dark energy is what I think it is, then the world is doomed unless we do something about it. I must train you in the ways of the aura. You have such large reserves of potential... it would be foolish not to train you." _replied Lucario.

"What's aura?"

_"**This** is aura." _said Lucario, as his hand began to glow with the blue fire-like energy. _"The very essence of life and spirit. When trained in the various arts of aura, one can shape it into anything, or even use it to attack."_ Lucario then formed an Aura Sphere and launched it at a nearby tree.

"COOL! Please train me!" Ash said.

_"Aura is not something to be taken lightly. By learning the ways of aura, you must know that you will never be the same. You will be an Aura Guardian from the very moment you fire your first Aura Sphere. The training will be difficult, but know what's on the line. You have reserves of aura the likes of which I have never seen. From the moment we begin, you shall be my master. Are you ready?" _asked Lucario.

"I'm ready." said Ash with a determined face.

_"Master, our training begins now. I estimate that we have about 5 years till the time comes for our journey. Charizard must train as well. It is very likely that after these 5 years, he and I will be your only pokemon. He and I will be your companions when our quest begins."_ said Lucario.

"Alright! Let's save the world guys!" yelled Ash.

Lucario smiled. _"Finally... I have a master."_

Charizard let out a grand roar as flames shot from his mouth into the sky. Lucario nodded his head. Ash stood up and stretched his arms and legs.

_"Let the training begin!"_ said Lucario.

Within the next two hours, Ash fired his first Aura Sphere. A new Aura Guardian was born.

* * *

**I really tried to make this chapter longer than the first, but it ended up being about the same length. I promise to make the next chapter longer. Leave me some reviews! Bye!  
**

**~DarkSlash9**


	3. Chapter 3

**Aloha! DarkSlash9 here with chapter 3! I've really tried my best to make this chapter longer than the previous two, so enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: Pokemon? I own no such thing.**

* * *

_Present Day..._

"C'mon May! the tournament start's in 4 hours!" yelled Max as he led May through the crowds of people in the airport.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" replied May, slightly agitated. She thought that being in Kanto would make her sad and depressed, but she didn't. She was fine.

After retrieving their bags, May and Max were about to walk out of the airport, when Max spotted something. It was a brochure for the Kanto region. What caught his eye on it was the advertisement for the tournament.

"Max, what are you looking at?"

"Look! It's a brochure for the tournament. It even has the list of the 100 people allowed to participate! Let's see here, of course Brock and Misty are on it, they're gym leaders... hmmm... Cilan and Barry too... Paul and Gary... Riley the aura guy... and As- That's it." Max knew it wouldn't be a good idea to bring up Ash at all during their stay in Kanto. But why would they put his name on there? Sure his death was never confirmed, but it was pretty safe to say he died. Who exactly is running this tournament anywa-

"It sounded like you were about to say someone else." asked May, interrupting Max's train of thought.

"Nah, i wasn't. You must be hearing things." said Max.

"Whatever. Let's go to Pewter City and get our hotel room." said May, not realizing that Ash's name was on the list.

"Okay."

May and Max arrived at Pewter City with two hours to go till the tournament. They found their hotel and were about to check in, when an idea popped up in May's mind.

"Hey Max, instead of spending money for a hotel room, why don't we just go to Brock's place and ask if we can stay with him? Saves us a bunch of money when you think about it..."

"That's a great idea! It'll be good to see Brock again. We haven't seen him since..." Max decided not to continue, knowing he was walking on thin ice.

"Since Ash died." said May, finishing Max's sentence. "It's okay Max. I can handle it now..."

"If you say so... but anyway, let's go to Brock's house!"

May and Max walked out of the hotel and took the path the Brock's house. May was thinking about whether she should start competing in contests again, to reclaim her title as "Princess of Hoenn." She decided that she would in the next few months. Max continued reading through the list of trainers allowed to enter the tournament. Finally arriving at Brock's house, May knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Brock from inside the house.

May and Max decided not to answer, to surprise Brock. But like a load of bricks, a painful realization hit May. That was exactly how she and Max knocked on Ash's door. The "who is it", them not answering, and them holding their bags. It was an exact reenactment of the day before her life was changed forever. Her last day truly happy. Max also came to this realization, and quickly glanced at May and saw her fighting back a tear. He put his arm around her in an effort to calm her. May was able to stop the tear from falling and calmed down.  
Brock finally opened the door.

"Hey Max! Hey May," Brock looked at May cautiously. He knew what she had gone through, and didn't want to hurt her in any way. "What brings you guys here?"

"Hey Brock... So.. we're in town to watch the All-Star Cup... and we were just wondering if we could stay with you for a couple days." said May.

"Sure! That's actually kinda interesting, because I'm actually competing in the tournament!"

"Really!? Why?" asked Max.

"I want the cash prize so i can buy a wedding ring for my girlfriend."

"WHO'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND?" asked both May and Max.

"Heheh... Misty." said Brock.

"WHAAA?" asked Max.

"Well... she was pretty shaken by what happened to Ash... I helped her recover and we kinda... fell in love." said Brock, scratching the back of his head. "But anyway, come on in guys."

May and Max dropped their bags off in Brock's living room and got ready for the tournament. After May and Max took their showers, they met Brock outside, and they began their walk to the newly built Pewter City Stadium. The lines to buy tickets were massive, and May and Max were really lucky they already had their own. Brock split from the group to sign up for the tournament, while May and Max handed in their tickets and entered the stadium.

Soon, the time for the tournament had started, and the tournament matches were seen. Brock was to face Lt. Surge, a Kanto Gym leader who was competing in the tournament.

But before the tournament began, the announcer spoke, "NOW BEFORE WE BEGIN THIS TOURNAMENT OF THE AGES, WE MUST REVEAL TO YOU THE HOST OF THIS TOURNAMENT. MANY OF YOU HAVE WONDERED WHO COULD PUT TOGETHER SUCH AN EPIC TOURNAMENT. HERE'S YOUR ANSWER! HERE HE IS! LANDING HERE ON HIS HELICOPTER! GIIIOOOOOOVANNNIIIIII!

May and Max's jaws dropped. In the mens locker room, Brock couldn't believe his ears. None of them could believe their eyes as Giovanni hopped out of his helicopter, and walked over to the podium.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to the Pokemon Trainer All-Star Cup! Every single person on this list is a great pokemon trainer. Some could even be called Masters! But only one will win this tournament. Not only will the winner of this tournament win a million pokedollars, but also the title of Pokemon Grand-Master! In a tournament of such epicness, be prepared to be surprised! Thank you! Enjoy the tournament!"

May and Max looked at each other in disbelief. Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, was hosting the tournament?

"Now what the hell is that scumbag doing hosting a tournament?!" growled Max.

"Maybe he's turned a new leaf or something... Team Rocket hasn't been very active in the last five years... Maybe they've been disbanded." replied May.

"I highly doubt that..." said Max.

May then shrugged and watched the first battle of the tournament begin, between the first two trainers.

* * *

Riley, a young Aura Guardian in training and his lucario were walking around looking for the bathroom. Their first match was over, they mopped the floor with their opponent. Right when he finally found the bathroom, the force of gravity around he and his lucario doubled.

"L-lucario..."

_"Yes. I sense it too. Quickly, in that direction!"_

"Dammit... this is SUCH a bad time..." said Riley as he ran toward the source of the energy. The further they went down the hall, the more powerful and dark the energy got. He and his lucario ran down the long hallway, until they saw a door. In front of the door were two guards.

_"Whatever is behind that door is the source of this monstrous energy."_ said Riley's Lucario.

"Alright. Let's knock those guy's out with some Aura Spheres."

_"Yes, Master."_

Riley and his lucario began to charge Aura spheres in their hands. When the balls of energy were fully charged, they fired then down the hall. The guard's were hit square in the chest by both attacks and were rendered unconscious. They made a rather large sound when they fell to the ground. Then a voice was heard from behind the door. The door then unlocked and opened. Inside the room was none other than Giovanni.

"Giovanni? What are you..." Riley began his sentence, but trailed off when he saw a horrifying creature walk out of the room along with Giovanni. It looked like a lucario... but red. It's eyes burned red with hatred. Riley's eyes widened.

"Wh-What is that abomination?" asked Riley.

"This little guy? Oh, he's the result of 5 years of experimenting. He's a Dark Lucario. But don't worry about what it is, for I shall kill you now, as you are one of the last remaining Aura Guardians." said Giovanni, grinning an evil grin.

_"Whatever that **thing** is, we shall destroy it, and **you**!"_ said Riley's Lucario.

Giovanni grinned, and snapped his fingers. Like lightning, the Dark Lucario charged up a sphere of a dark red energy with one hand and fired it at Riley's Lucario, hitting it square in the chest. As soon as contact was made, Riley's Lucario's body began to slowly disintegrate from the chest outwards. It howled in pain.

"LUCARIO!" screamed Riley as he attempted to rush over to help his dying friend. But he never made it to his partner, because out of nowhere Giovanni appeared in front of him, grabbed his neck, and pinned him to the wall.

"Terribly sorry, but you're not going anywhere, _Riley._" said Giovanni, an evil glow burning in his eyes. He tightened his grip on Riley's throat, causing Riley to cough up blood.

"You...*cough* bastard..." growled Riley as blood slowly trickled out of his mouth.

Giovanni then smiled even wider as he tightened his grip full power on Riley's neck, thus putting an end to Riley's life.

_"Mas...ter..." _whispered Riley's Lucario as the last part of his body disintegrated away.

Giovanni dropped Riley's limp and bloody body on the ground before laughing crazily. He then awoke his guards that were knocked out by Riley and his lucario.

"You two, get up and clean up that mess over there. We dont want any of the spectators to stumble upon something like that."

"YES SIR!" said the two guards as they ran over to Riley's corpse.

Giovanni and his Dark Lucario then reentered their room, to watch the rest of the tournament matches.

* * *

Ash had trained for 5 years. He had mastered Aura in 3. He spent the last 2 honing his senses and creating his own moves. So it was no surprise to his lucario when he also felt the gravity around them double.

"Lucario. Charizard." said Ash in his now 20 year-old voice.

_"Yes. It appears the time has come."_ replied Lucario.

Ash and Lucario hopped onto Charizard's back, and took flight.

_"And so it begins."_ said Lucario to himself.

* * *

The first round of the tournament was over. Brock had defeated Lt. Surge, and was to face Riley as his next opponent. During the first round, May and Max found Misty a few rows below them rooting for Brock. They decided to move down the rows to sit next to her.

"That Riley guy looked kinda tough... You think Brock can beat him?" asked Max to both the ladies.

"It'll be tough, but I think he can." said May.

"To tell you guys the truth, I don't even know why he's participating in the tournament. He refuses to tell me."

May and Max giggled a bit. They then composed themselves for the next match that was about the begin.

"WE NOW BEGIN THE SECOND ROUND! BROCK VS. RILEYYYY!" yelled the announcer.

Brock then stepped onto the field ready to face his opponent. But he wasn't there.

* * *

Charizard flew at light speed through the skies, on his way to the source of the power. After a few minutes of flying, the three companions saw the Pewter City Stadium. Ash and Lucario hopped off Charizard and ran into the stadium, but were halted by a security guard.

"You need to buy a ticket or be participating in the tournament to enter."

The word "tournament" peaked Ash's attention. Even though he had no memory of his life before meeting Lucario, something was telling him to enter the tournament. It felt like something he'd enjoy.

"Fine! I'll enter!"

"Then go over to that Nurse Joy over there and sign up."

"Okay!"

Ash returned Charizard into his ball and ran over to the Nurse Joy along with Lucario.

"I'd like to enter the tournament!"

"What's your name? Only a select few are allowed to enter the tournament. And only a reallllly select few are allowed to enter from the second round."

"Ash Ketchum."

"Okay! You are allowed to enter from the second round. What two pokemon will you use?"

"Lucario and Charizard."

"Okay! Good luck! Your match is right now!"

Nurse Joy opened the door. Ash ran inside, on his way to the field.

_"Let's not forget why were here, Master."_

"Yeah yeah yeah!" said Ash.

* * *

Everyone in the stadium was confused. Where was Riley? He never showed up. Then, on the screen that showed the two trainers, something changed. Riley's face and name was erased, and a new one came up. Ash Ketchum. But there was no picture of his face. Just his name.

Most of the people in the audience didn't know who he was, so they shrugged it off. But Max, Misty, May and Brock had different reactions.

Misty and Max were both offended that someone would be so disrespectful and pretend to be someone who had died tragically.

Brock was angry, getting ready to beat the crap out of whoever was posing as his late friend.

But May, well, May was a different story. She stared at the name. She began to cry, but fought back the tears. "_What kind of sick joke is this?"_ she thought to herself. Right when she was about to finish recovering, all this stuff happens to her. At that moment she wished she never agreed to go to the tournament with Max. It was tearing her apart.

* * *

Ash found the entrance to the stage and got ready to enter.

"Here we go!"

* * *

May, Brock, Misty and Max watched the entrance to the stage intently to see who could do such a thing.

* * *

Ash and entered the stage.

* * *

Brock's eyes opened.

Max's jaw dropped.

Misty rubbed her eyes and looked again.

May was speechless.

_"He's alive."_

* * *

**How ya like them apples? This chapter ended up being 2,422 words long! Hurray! Be sure to leave me some reviews! Bye!  
**

**~DarkSlash9**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey. As you may or may not know, I am an athlete. So during the week i am too physically and mentally exhausted to write. So my new chapters are only posted on weekends.**

**I've been reading through the reviews for this story, and I believe most of your questions will be answered in this chapter. If not, definitely the next chapter. Enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER: Please don't sue me, I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters.**

* * *

May was couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true. Was May really looking at Ash Ketchum, the boy she thought dead for 5 years? She had convinced herself he was gone, and she had learned to let go. But there he was, dressed in the clothing of an Aura Guardian, minus hat Aura Guardians usually wear. What was going on inside her mind was far beyond any verbal explanation. May was snapped out of her trance by the sound of Misty's shaken voice.

"_H-How?"_ said Misty. For some reason, she felt anger building up in the back of her mind.

"I cant believe it... he's alive!?" said Max.

"W-wait, this guy may _look _like Ash... but we have to see his mannerisms and the way he battles before we can truly believe it." said Misty, still staring at the two men on the battlefield.

Max nodded his head in agreement. He then decided to see if May was okay, but she wasn't there. Max turned around to see May weaving through the crowds on her way to the stadium's halls. Max attempted to get up and go after her, but he already lost sight of her.

* * *

Ash entered the stadium and immediately noticed the fluctuation of 4 auras in the stadium. He nonchalantly read the auras, just out of curiosity. He realized that all four auras were giving off the same emotional waves. Shock. Ash then decided to look at the sources of the auras, and found that three of them were in the crowd staring at him with pure astonishment on their faces. The fourth one was right in front of him. His opponent. Ash proceeded to give his opponent a determined look, which broke caused his opponent to finally speak.

"A-Ash... is that really you?" asked Brock, still dumbfounded.

"Yeah, my name is Ash Ketchum. I guess you're my opponent. What's your name?"

Brock looked at Ash in confusion, and then his face hardened into a serious one.

"That's not funny." said Brock in a serious tone.

"What's not funny? I was just trying to be polite. I don't know you, so I am asking you your name! Isn't that what you ask people you've never met before?"

"This isn't funny Ash. Cut the act. You've been gone for 5 years. None of us are going to think this little joke of yours is funny."

"Hey man, you must have an odd sense of humor, because I have NO idea what you're talking about..."

"Stop it." said Brock.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Ash, do not make me-"

"Hey are we having this match or not?" asked Ash.

"That's it! I forfeit the match!" yelled Brock to the referee. He quickly glanced at Misty out of the corner of his eye, and then stared at the ground. His hopes of making her his wife had to be put on hold.

"What?! Why?!" asked Ash.

"Brock Stone of Pewter City refuses to battle! The winner by default is Ash Ketchum!" yelled the referee to the audience.

"Oh, so you're name's Broc- AHHH!"

"_You_ are coming with _Me."_ growled Brock as he cut Ash off mid sentence while grabbing him by the collar of his Aura Guardian cloak.

"Hey! Let me go!" yelled Ash.

Brock remained silent as he dragged Ash from the battlefield and into the hallway, where he shoved Ash into the wall. He looked Ash dead in the eye, with tears beginning to form in his eyes. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WE HAVE ALL SUFFERED FIVE LONG YEARS THINKING YOU WERE DEAD! IF YOU WERE ALIVE ALL THIS TIME, WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN NOW TO COME BACK?! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH PAIN YOU'VE CAUSED? BOTH MISTY AND MAY TRIED TO KILL THEMSELVES! YOUR MOTHER DIED FROM A BROKEN HEART! AND NOW YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY TO MAKE A DRAMATIC RETURN AND ACT LIKE YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME?! YOU'RE A SICK BASTARD!"

Brock then released his grip on Ash and turned to walk away. Ash, who was convinced that Brock didn't know what he was talking about, scanned Brock's aura for any traces of lying. But much to his surprise, he only found truth and pain. Brock was about to turn around and say something to Ash again, but stopped when he saw a familiar figure walking towards him and Brock. Brock noticed the figure also and walked up to her.

"Hey May, what are you doing here?" asked Brock.

At the mention of the word "May", Ash froze. That name. That word. It was the only thing he could remember about his life before meeting Lucario. Ash had attempted to remember what that word meant to him so many times during his training. He focused hard every time, trying to remember at least a small bit of his memory, but it was like there was a wall in his mind built to keep him from remembering.

Ash stared at May. Brock then spoke to May. "He thought it would be funny to act like he doesn't remember us. I don't know what the fuck his problem is." said Brock as he walked down the hallway angrily, leaving Ash and May alone.

They stared into each others eyes for what felt like an eternity, but it ended when May looked at the rest of him. He had grown, he was now Brock's height. He still had his tan skin, and the little Zs on his cheeks. He was lean, but muscular. His face was a little more angular, and his hair was slightly longer than it used to be. Her examination of him was interrupted by his now deeper voice.

"Your name is May, correct?" asked Ash, in a monotonous voice.

"Ash... we've all missed you so much... please, drop this stupid act." said May, hurt that Ash would continue such a joke, even after being scolded for it.

"Is your name May?" asked Ash, still in a monotone.

May lost what little patience she had.

"Yes! My name is May! What's your issue?! Why are you acting like you don't remember us?! I cant believe you're doing this! I WENT THROUGH HELL MISSING YOU! MY LIFE WAS DESTROYED! AND NOW FINALLY WHEN I'VE FINISHED REBUILDING IT, YOU COME OVER HERE ACTING LIKE A TOTAL ASSHOLE! WHY?!"

Ash wasn't even listening. He just looked at her. _"This is May." _he kept thinking repeatedly. That was May. The one thing that managed to stay in his mind after his accident was her name. There had to be something special about this girl.

"May, please listen to me. I'm not pulling any sort of act. I really don't remember anything. The furthest back I remember is 5 years ago, when I woke up in the forest, with no memories. The only thing I remembered was your name. I don't know why. I know, it sounds absolutely crazy, but I'm telling you the truth... do you believe me?"

May stared into Ash's eyes deciding whether or not to believe him. Ash, decided that instead of waiting for an answer he'd put his mastery of aura to use and read her aura. She was torn between believing him and not believing him. He realized that he would need assistance in convincing her. So he grabbed one of the two pokeballs he had and released the pokemon that was inside.

"If you don't believe me yet, I have someone who can explain in further detail." said Ash as his Lucario materialized in front of him.

May's teary eyes widened. She looked at the Lucario that stood beside Ash, and spoke.

"Y-you have a lucario?" asked May.

"Yes. He's the one who saved Charizard and I from our fall. I've spent these last 5 years training with him, and with his help I've mastered aura." said Ash, petting Lucario's head. "He's been a real help in keeping my sanity. But anyway, Lucario, could you please tell May what happened on that day?"

_"Yes Master." _said Lucario. Lucario explained to May what happened, and how he saved Ash and Charizard's lives. He made sure to mention that Ash hit his head when he landed, which is what probably cause the amnesia. For some reason, May found it easier to believe a Lucario. She came to the conclusion that pokemon couldn't tell lies, and looked Ash in the eye.

"If this is all true...how will you ever get your memories back?" asked May sadly.

"I... I don't know." said Ash unhappily.

May was silent for awhile before grabbing Ash's hand and leading him down the hall. Lucario followed the pair.

"Where are we going May?" asked Ash.

"Well, I guess you're going to have to explain to everyone else too..." said May sadly.

"Yeah... I guess I will..."

Ash and May walked in silence the rest of the way. Lucario was a couple feet behind them. When they entered the main lobby, Ash and May found Brock, Misty, and Max waiting for them. Ash didn't even have to use aura to determine that Brock had told Max and Misty about his "joke". Their faces were the physical manifestation of anger. Ash was about to speak, but was stopped when Misty walked over and slapped him hard in the face. Or at least attempted to. Instead of connecting with Ash's face, it connected with a sheet of solid aura placed right in front of Ash's face by Lucario, who had just entered the lobby.

_"Please do not touch him." _asked Lucario politely.

Brock and Max's faces changed to looks of surprised at the sight of a Lucario, but quickly returned to their angry ones. Misty stared at the blue shield of energy. She didn't know what it was, and didn't really care at the moment. Tears began to stream down her face as she tried to punch Ash's face. Ash's eyes glowed blue with the power of aura as he stopped Misty's hand from touching him. Lucario marveled at the immense power of his master. Ash had just used an advanced aura art, Aura Binding, without moving a muscle. He was truly a prodigy.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY HAND YOU BASTARD?! I HATE YOU!" screamed Misty loudly. Brock and Max's faces once again changed at the sight of Ash using aura. But once again, they returned to angry mode after a few seconds. May watched in awe of Ash's aura skills.

"Please ma'am let me speak-"

"SHUT UP! GO BURN IN HELL YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Ma'am-"

Ash was about to speak again, but threw that idea out of the window when he felt the strength of the gravity around him double, or maybe even triple. Ash's eyes began to dart around, looking for the source of the monstrous energy coming their way. Lucario felt it too. As if on cue, Lucario quickly formed a force field of aura around everyone but Ash and himself.

"Ash? What are you doing?" asked May, who didn't feel the increase in gravity, as she and everyone else were not able to sense aura.

Everyone else asked similar things, but none of them got an answer from Ash or Lucario.

Ash did not answer, but instead grabbed his only other pokeball and released it.

"Let's go Charizard." Ash said quietly as Charizard erupted from his pokeball.

Charizard roared strongly, anticipating some action.

_"Master, it seems a powerful foe approaches us."_

"Powerful indeed Lucario. Listen, I need you to get all of them out of here. Charizard and I will hold whatever it is off until you can join us. Go!" yelled Ash.

Lucario complied and was about to go through with his instructions, when the wall next to him exploded. Lucario dodged the explosion, and landed next to Ash.

_"Perhaps I should stay here with you Mas-"_

Lucario paused when he was the two figures that emerged from the dust of the explosion. A man in a black tuxedo with red pinstripes, and a Lucario. a _Red_ Lucario. It's eyes were glowing with the same dark energy that blasted Ash and Charizard 5 years ago. Charizard growled at the sight of the man.

"Giovanni!" growled Max through the aura force field.

"Why hello everyone. Hello Mr. Ketchum." said Giovanni in a calm but evil tone. "It seems that it is time for me to put an end to you permanently."

"Well, judging by what that guy said over there, I'm guessing your name is Giovanni. And what do you mean by 'put an end to'?" asked Ash with sass.

"Well, Mr. Ketchum, with the help of this little creature over here," said Giovanni as he pointed to the Dark Lucario next to him, "I've learned some useful tricks that could come in handy against you. Want an example? How about _taking away your memories?_"

"I know you're bluffing Giovanni. I lost my memories when I hit my head." said Ash matter-of-factually.

"Hmph, yeah right. I knew that those idiots Jessie and James could never successfully kill you, so I gave them a weapon that would erase your memories. If your memories were not erased, you would have probably came and destroyed all the experiments Team Rocket was operating on lucarios. Those experiments led to the creation of the first Dark Lucario, this guy right here. You were supposed to die with no memories, alone in the forest. You were just lucky when that Lucario stumbled upon you. But it doesn't matter, because I'll just kill you now. So just face it Mr. Ketchum, I took your memories, and you'll never get them back!" said Giovanni as he thrust his arm forward, releasing a blast of dark red energy.

"Ash!" screamed May.

Ash, Charizard and Lucario jumped out of the way, but the blast still hit Ash's hand. Ash's hand started feeling immense icy pain. It felt like his hand had been encased in ice. Upon feeling it, Ash felt like he'd felt the energy somewhere before. It seemed so familiar, so... odd. Ash then snapped out of his trance and attempted to channel his own aura into his hand in an attempt to expel the dark energy off his hand. This caused a reaction that sent a wave of life through Ash's whole body. The red energy mixed with Ash's blue aura which turned it purple.

The purple energy traveled up Ash's body, renewing and invigorating every cell inside. And once it reached his head, all of his mind's aspects were stimulated.

Including Ash's memories.

* * *

**Alright, chapter 4, done! Feel free to leave me some reviews! Byebye!  
**

**~DarkSlash9**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Sorry for the wait, I've been pretty busy lately, with varsity sports, holidays and other stuff. This chapter was originally going to be really long, but I decided to split it into 2 chapters. This half alone is the longest one so far. So expect the next chapter tomorrow or the next day, as it is already half way done. **

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own pokemon.**

* * *

The force was truly overwhelming. The force of 15 years worth of memories crashed into his mind like a tsunami. Wave after wave of memories invaded his mind as Ash stood, speechless. Everything had come back to him. The sensation was almost too much for Ash to handle. It was eye-opening. It was amazing. It was phenomenal.

Ash stood, standing completely still, as the purple energy began to leave his body. He was in a trance as his memories returned, leaving him wide open for another attack. Ash was snapped out of his trance from the sound of Lucario's voice.

_"Master! Move! They're charging up another attack!" _yelled Lucario as both Giovanni and the Dark Lucario began charging what looked like red Aura Spheres. Once their attacks were fully charged, they fired them.

"Wha? WOAH!" yelled Ash as he and Lucario dodged the the dark spheres by a thin margin.

Ash looked around. He saw Max, fists clenched, glaring at Giovanni. He saw Misty, his best friend, crying, with her hands covering her face. He saw Brock, his brother figure, with an arm around her, consoling her. He glanced at the remaining person not involved in the battle. The sight of her sent shock through his body. He saw May, the love of his life. Ash no longer needed to deny it. He was a young adult, and he understood the concept of love much better than he did when he last saw her 5 years ago. She had grown into a beautiful 19 year old. Ash spent at least 30 seconds staring at her.

Reluctantly, Ash turned his gaze away from her, realizing he had a battle to finish. His eyes turned to Giovanni, who had his usual calm demeanor. Ash felt the birth of a great anger inside of him as he stared into Giovanni's unreadable eyes. This was the man who took away the memories of his loved ones. The man who prevented him from returning to his friends. Ash hated him. There was no way Ash was going to lose a fight to a monster like him.

Ash glared at Giovanni, and pointed his hand to Giovanni. His fingers formed the shape of a finger gun. Then, without any warning, Ash fired a barrage of bullets made of aura straight at Giovanni. Giovanni was hit right in the gut by them, and was sent crashing into a wall. All those watching the battle were shocked at what they had seen. Except for Lucario and Charizard. They knew it was just one of the many aura techniques Ash had created during his years of training. But Ash's friends were not aware of that.

"What was _that?_" asked Max astonished.

"It kinda looked like he shot aura from his pointer finger." replied Brock, in awe. His arm was still around Misty, who was still crying.

"Where the hell did he learn all this stuff?" asked Max.

"He's been training with that Lucario of his for the past 5 years..." said May sadly.

"Makes sense..." said Brock.

"This is all Giovanni's fault! He's the one who took Ash's memories! Now he'll never get them back..." said Max angrily.

"Let's just hope Ash defeats him..." said Brock.

Ash stood his ground, and waited for Giovanni to emerge from the pile of rubble. Finally, Giovanni emerged, and stood. He brushed himself off and snapped his fingers. In response to the snap, Giovanni's Dark Lucario materialized next to him.

"Use Aura Tackle. On that Charizard over there." said Giovanni calmly.

Immediately, the Dark Lucario charged towards Charizard, it's body being covered more and more with dark energy as it got closer to Charizard. Ash instantly came to the conclusion that an attack like that was dangerous.

"Charizard! Use Vulcan's Wrath!" yelled Ash.

Charizard roared and began to build up orange energy in his mouth. As soon as the energy needed was gathered, a large beam of lava and rocks shot out of his mouth straight for the Dark Lucario. The Dark Lucario dodged it, but in doing so deactivated the Aura Tackle. It then materialized back to its spot next to Giovanni.

"Woaaahhh! I've never even _heard _of that attack before! How did Charizard learn that!?" asked Max.

"I think it's safe to say Charizard has been training also." replied Brock.

Lucario heard Max and Brock speaking, and remembered the task that Ash had given him earlier. He decided it would be best to ask Ash.

_"Master, do you still want me to take your friends away from the battle?" _asked Lucario, who was keeping his eyes on the Dark Lucario.

_"Yeah, get them out of here. Don't come back either. I'll quickly defeat this guy and meet you guys outside. Got it?" _asked Ash, making use of his and Lucario's mental link.

Ash watched as Lucario nodded his head and ran towards the force field that was protecting Ash's friends. He trusted that Lucario would keep his friends safe.

"_Now that there's nobody that can get hurt in the crossfire, I can go all-out and end this bastard."_ thought Ash.

Ash turned his gaze to Giovanni, who was watching Lucario lead Ash's friends down the hall that led to the exit of the stadium.

"Now that they're out of the way, I say we finish this Giovanni." said Ash.

"Indeed. I grow weary of this battle. It's high time I dispose of your pathetic body. But first," said Giovanni as he looked at his Dark Lucario, "Dark Lucario, do not let that Lucario and those people escape. Kill them all, no mercy."

The Dark Lucario ran down the hallway that Lucario had led Ash's friends toward.

"No! I won't let you!" yelled Ash as turned to go after the Dark Lucario. But before he could, Giovanni appeared in front of him.

"I believe your fight is with me!" spoke Giovanni as he punched Ash in jaw. Ash staggered back and spit out some blood. Giovanni then grabbed Ash by the neck and pinned him to the wall, the same way he did Riley. Ash was desperate. He couldn't let that Dark Lucario kill Lucario and his friends. He decided that he would have to fight Giovanni alone.

"Charizard! Go after that Dark Lucario!" said Ash.

"ROAAARRRRRR!" yelled Charizard as he flew full speed down the hall. Ash was confident that together, Lucario and Charizard could defeat that Dark Lucario. With all that settled, Ash could finally concentrate on killing Giovanni. He could sense that Giovanni was using his full strength, which caused Ash to have an epiphany. Giovanni's energy level was not very strong at all. It was about a 1/5 of Ash's. The strong presence he and Lucario felt earlier wasn't from Giovanni, it was from that Dark Lucario. Which meant that he had to quickly kill Giovanni and make sure that the Dark Lucario didn't kill anyone.

"You imbecile, no matter what you send, my Dark Lucario will kill them all. They're all probably dead already!" laughed Giovanni as he drew his fist back to punch Ash again. But this time, Ash caught the punch with his hand. Giovanni tried to pull his fist out of Ash's grip, but he couldn't.

"The only ones that are dying today are you and that beast of yours." said Ash, as his eyes began to glow blue with aura. Giovanni was about to reply, but was interrupted by two small laser beams of aura shooting from Ash's eyes. They hit Giovanni directly in the eyes, which caused him to release his hold on Ash, stagger back, and put his hands over his eyes. Giovanni screamed in pain.

Ash landed on his feet, and calmly walked over to Giovanni. He channeled some aura into his hand and delivered a strong punch to Giovanni's head. Giovanni staggered back some more.

"That one was for taking my memories."

Ash then punched Giovanni in the gut.

"That one was for Misty and Brock."

Giovanni, who was temporarily blinded by the Aura Beams that hit his eyes, was hunched over, clenching his stomach. Ash charged and fired an Aura Sphere at Giovanni's face.

"That's for Max."

Giovanni fell backwards, and landed on the ground. Ash then kicked his body so hard it flew across the room.

"That one... was for my mother."

Giovanni landed against the wall. His vision began to return to him, and what he saw made him wish his vision was still gone. Across the room he saw Ash in the pose used to charge an Aura Sphere. Aura began to collect into the space between Ash's hands.

"And this one..." said Ash as the Aura around his hands grew, "is for May!" said Ash as he thrust his palms forward. Much to Giovanni's surprise, what came out was not an Aura Sphere, but a large continuous beam of aura. The Aura Wave spiraled towards Giovanni, who was helplessly sitting on the ground, waiting for death. When the attack connected, the blue light of aura glowed everywhere, bathing the room in its purifying light.

When the light finally left, Giovanni was no more. No corpse, nothing. The blast disintegrated him. Ash decided that there was no time to celebrate. He had to go make sure that everyone was safe. Without hesitation, Ash ran down the hall, to his friends.

* * *

Ash continued running down the hallway, but found no one. He then exited the stadium to check outside. There he found everyone. It seemed the battle had ended. Lucario and Charizard were out of breath, but other than that, they were unscathed. May, Max, Brock and Misty were no longer protected by a force field.

Ash ran over to Lucario and Charizard, who were a couple feet away from his friends.

_"Lucario, what happened_?" asked Ash telepathically.

_"I engaged the Dark Lucario in battle, and almost immediately, Charizard entered the battle. But not too soon after, the Dark Lucario began to howl in pain, and it vanished. I would assume that was when you killed Giovanni, correct?"_

Ash nodded his head.

_"Master, later, we must speak about today's events." _said Lucario seriously.

Ash nodded his head. He then gave Charizard a thumbs up and grabbed his pokeball.

"Charizard, you fought hard. You need some rest. Return!" said Ash as Charizard entered his ball with a flash of red light.

Ash sighed as he placed his pokeball back on his belt. He then turned around and walked over to his friends, who were all staring him awkwardly. He walked over and began to speak.

"Hey guys! It's been a while!" said Ash cheerfully.

All of Ash's friends looked at him with surprised expressions on their faces.

"Well, you're awfully friendly with people you don't even remember anymore." said Misty with a hint of venom in her tone.

"Yeah, now that you don't know any of us anymore, you're basically meeting us all over again." said Brock sadly.

"Yeah..." added Max.

"I cant believe Giovanni stole your memories..." said May, who was fighting back tears.

Ash looked at all of them, and then smiled.

"You're Misty, you're Brock, you're Max, and you're May." said Ash as he pointed to each of them. Each of them were shocked, except for May. She had already told him her name.

"How do you know our names?!" asked Brock, astonished.

"I know them, because I remember them." said Ash calmly.

"Oh, he remembers them..." said Max. "...wait, YOU REMEMBER THEM?"

Ash smiled as tears began to slowly fall from his eyes.

"I've missed you guys." he said as he pulled them all into a hug.

"How did you get your memories back?!" asked Max.

"Or maybe he never lost them..." whispered Misty to herself, as she squirmed her way out of the hug.

No one heard Misty's quiet comment, and continued with the reunion.

"Well, remember when Giovanni threw that red energy stuff at me and it hit my hand? Well, I tried to get it off by forcing it away with my own energy, and that's what caused that flash of purple light, I think. When the purple light left, I felt rejuvenated and all my memories started rushing back to me. Crazy, huh?"

Brock walked over and looked Ash in the eye.

"If you truly remember everything, then tell me; What badge did I give out when I was a Gym Leader?"

"The Boulder Badge. And Misty gave out the Cascade Badge." said Ash without hesitation.

Brock pulled Ash into a bear hug and said, "You really do remember... Five years... It's been so long, man."

"Yeah. It's been hard, living 5 years without your cooking."

Brock laughed, as Ash pulled out of Brock's hug. Ash decided that he would talk to May next. He walked over to her next.

"Hey." said Ash shyly.

"Hello." said May with equal or greater shyness.

"May, I'm really sorry we didn't end up spending the holidays together all those years ago..."

"It's okay.. It's not like you planned to be shot out of the sky and land with amnesia."

"Yeah... I gotta make it up to you though... How long are you staying in Kanto?" said Ash.

"Well, our flight back to Hoenn is in 4 days."

"How about you and Max spend these next four days with me at my house? It's not as long as the month we had planned 5 years ago, but-"

"We'd love to stay with you. We just have to go get our things from Brock's house. Actually, it would be a good idea for Max and I to head there now so we can pick up our things. Meet us at Brock's house okay?" said May quietly.

"Okay, seeya later then. Bye May." said Ash.

"Bye Ash..." said May.

May and Max walked away, leaving only Ash, May, Brock and Lucario. Ash walked over to Misty and Brock, who were talking. Judging by the way they were talking, it was on a serious topic. Ash decided to let them finish their conversation before he approached them. When the conversation was done, Ash walked to them.

"Hey Mist!"

"Hi." said Misty coldly.

Ash picked up on the tone of her voice and immediately asked, "Geez what's with the cold shoulder?"

"Misty's not feeling too well, that's all. I think I'm going to take her home with me and let her rest at my place. It's been nice seeing you again Ash. Keep in touch!" said Brock as he nervously pulled Misty away from the scene.

Ash was now alone with his Lucario.

"So, what do we do now?"

_"It would be a good idea to heal Charizard at the pokemon center and then fly over to Brock's house to retrieve May and Max."_

"Yeah, let's do that."

Ash and Lucario walked over the the Pewter City pokemon center and healed Charizard. Ash then called Charizard out hopped on his back along with Lucario. Within minutes, they were flying to Brock's house.

* * *

In a dark room sat 3 figures. Beside all of them, Dark Lucarios. The room was pitch black, lit by only the glowing eyes of the Dark Lucarios, and 3 monitors in front of each figure. The images on each monitor all showed the same thing; Ash and Giovanni's battle. When the video of the battle ended on all 3 screens, one of the figures spoke up.

"He is very powerful." said Figure 1.

"Indeed he is... his fighting style is not that of the average Aura Guardian..." said Figure 2.

"Yeah," said Figure #3, who spoke less in a less sophisticated manner compared to the other two. "Maybe the kid is the Master of Legend. It's no big deal beating a weakling like Giovanni, but the way he did it was something else. "

"It is very possible... Aura Lasers, Aura Guns, Aura Waves... he's clearly mastered Positive Aura, just look at the moves he's invented." said Figure 2. "Not to mention the flash of purple energy that erupted when he accidentally fused Negative Aura with his Positive Aura. I've never seen such a phenomenon."

"We must eliminate him before he becomes a threat." said Figure 1.

"And how will we do that, eh?" asked Figure 3.

"Well," said Figure 1 as he played the battle on the screen again. He then paused at a specific spot and zoomed in on one of the people that were on the screen. She had brown hair and a red bandana. "It is clear that he has strong feelings for this girl. Let's scan her to see if she can be of use."

Figure 1 pressed a button on his remote and the screen singled out May's frame. It then scanned her from head to toe, telling much of her personal information. Hair color, blood type, eye color... and Aura Signature. Next to Aura Signature, it said "-".

"Hmm... I see. This girl has a negative aura signature, which means if pushed enough, she can become a user of Negative Aura. If we can corrupt her to the point where she learns of her dark powers, and uses them, it would be horrible for this little hero here that loves her so much." said Figure 1. "He'd go insane having to deal with the fact that the one he loves is going down the dark path."

"So how we gonna corrupt her?" asked Figure 3.

"Yes, while your plan is good, the corrupting part will be rather difficult." said Figure 2.

"Hmph, it's not that difficult fools. All we have to do is destroy the things she holds dear... And I already have the perfect place to start." said Figure 1 as he smiled evilly.

"Well, now we have a plan, I'll be returning to my quarters now." said Figure 2, as he and his Dark Lucario left the room.

"Since he's allowed to leave, I'm leaving too." said Figure 3, as he left the room as well, followed by his Dark Lucario.

Figure 1 ignored his comrades and called in a servant. While he waited for a servant to arrive, he wrote something down on a sheet of paper and folded it.

"Yes sir?" asked the servant.

"I would like you to send Aura Warlord #2 and their Dark Lucario on a mission. Here's the details." said Figure 1, as he handed the folded sheet of paper to the servant.

"Sir yes sir!" said the servant as he left the room.

Figure 1 smiled. _"Soon, this world shall enter a new era."_ he thought.

* * *

**So like I said, expect the next chapter in 2 or 3 days. Leave me some reviews!**

**~DarkSlash9**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Here's the next chapter!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

When Brock's house was finally in sight, Ash noticed that Max, May, Misty and Brock were all on the front porch speaking. He also noticed that as soon as Misty saw him in the sky, she abruptly stormed inside the house, slamming the door behind her. Ash decided that he wasn't going to ask any questions about it.

"Hey guys. I'm here to pick you up." said Ash to May and Max. He waved to Brock who waved back. Brock then went inside to go speak with Misty again. May and Max picked up their things and climbed on Charizard's back. In order for there to be enough space, Ash had to return Lucario into his pokeball.

"Hang on." said Ash to May and May. They did as instructed, and with little to no effort, Charizard lifted off into the sky and flew towards Pallet Town.

"So guys, how has everyone, besides who I've seen today, been?" asked Ash.

"Well, Gary and Dawn just got married...*yawn*" said Max.

"MARRIED? Geez, they're only 20 and 18!" asked Ash, shocked.

"Yeah, the wedding was actually a few days ago in Sinnoh. They're on their Honeymoon right now. It think they went to the Kalos Region." replied May quietly.

"Wow... how about Professor Oak?" said Ash.

"Unfortunately, he had to leave Kanto for some reason I don't remember. He's now working in Johto. Gary's now in charge of the lab." said May.

"Interesting..." said Ash.

Half an hour later, as Charizard soared throughout the Kanto skies, a sudden realization hit Ash.

"Hey guys... where's Pikachu?" asked Ash curiously.

No response came from Max, who had fallen asleep on the back of a flying pokemon, hundreds of feet in the air. A feat Ash thought was impossible. But May was still awake, and her face became saddened.

"He left to look for you... and never came back. Most of your pokemon ran away Ash... and the ones that didn't were released into the wild by Professor Oak. I'm so sorry Ash..."

Ash took the news better than expected. He simply nodded his head and remained silent, a display of the maturity he acquired during his 5 years of absence. A few seconds later, Ash asked another question.

"So my mother passed away while I was gone?" asked Ash quietly.

"...yes..." said May. Once again, Ash had taken the news surprisingly well. He shed a couple tears, but wiped them off. Ash remained silent for the rest of the ride, and soon May fell asleep.

* * *

When they finally arrived at Ash's house, night had fallen and the moon was shining brightly over Pallet Town. Ash woke up May and Max. Max and May both got up and picked up their bags.

"Well, I guess we should all go inside and... Wow, I didn't think this one through. How are we going to get inside?" asked Ash.

Max face-palmed while May began to think. When an idea finally popped in her head, she gently smiled.

"Well, since you're an all-powerful Aura Guardian now, I'm sure that you can find a way to get to the second floor and see if any windows are unlocked." said May with a small chuckle.

"Oh! That's a great idea!" said Ash.

Ash walked over to the house and looked up to the closest second floor window. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held the breath in for a couple seconds, and then exhaled. As soon as Ash exhaled, a ladder made of solid aura materialized in front of him.

"Ooooooh..." said Max.

"Wow... I was joking, but whatever." said May.

Ash climbed up the ladder and found that the window wasn't locked. He entered the room. As soon as Ash entered the room, a rush of nostalgia swept over him. It was _his_ room. Ash walked around the room, looking at all of his childhood and teenage items. He walked over to his bed, and looked at his old sheets. they were the same as they were on the day he left. He then examined his desk, which was... not dusty? Ash raised an eyebrow in curiosity and looked around. Nothing in his room was dusty at all. Actually, everything looked as if it was cleaned earlier that day. Ash's thoughts were interrupted by a sound he heard coming from the kitchen.

Alert, Ash walked over to the door, and slowly but quietly opened it. He slowly stepped out of his room. As quiet as can be, Ash made his way down the stairs, and made sure to skip the creaky steps. When he finally made it to the living room, he peeped into the kitchen area and saw something that made him smile. With it's back facing him, rummaging through the fridge was Mimey, the Mr. Mime that belonged to Ash's mother.

Ash decided to surprise Mimey by standing in the doorway of the kitchen, waiting for Mimey to turn around. When Mimey finally found what he was looking for, he turned around. Much to his surprise was Ash, standing with him in the kitchen. Mimey immediately dropped the food that was in his arms and jumped over to Ash and gave him a huge hug.

"Mime mime mime!"

"I've missed you too Mimey! Is it you that's been taking care of the house?" asked Ash happily.

"Mime!" replied Mimey proudly.

"You've done a great job! Hold on, I'm going have to go to the front yard. We have visitors!" said Ash as Mimey released him from the hug. Ash ran over to the front door and opened it. May and Max were sitting on the steps, their backs facing the door. They turned around and picked up their bags.

"Took ya long enough." said Max tiredly.

"Sorry. I got in and learned that Mimey still lives here!" said Ash.

"But I thought all your pokemon are gone..." said Max. May glared at him out of the corner of her eye, annoyed with the fact that Max would talk about such a touchy topic so nonchalantly.

"Mimey was my mom's. So I guess he stayed..." said Ash quietly. "But anyway, let's get inside. Max, you can sleep in the guest room, and May, you can sleep in my room."

"Ash, you can sleep in your room if you want to. I'll just sleep on the air mattress. I'm sure you'll want to sleep in your own bed after 5 years." said May.

"May, first of all, you're a visitor. It's against the rules for you to sleep on the air mattress. And second of all, my bed is too small for me now. I've grown like, a whole foot taller." said Ash.

"Fine..." said May.

Ash took May's bags from her hands and led her and Max inside. Ash walked up to his room, while May went to change in the bathroom. Ash laid May's bags on his bed and changed out of his Aura Guardian attire. He changed into a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt.

Ash then walked downstairs to May, who had already changed into a tanktop and sweatpants. Max was fast asleep in the visitor's room. Ash walked over to May and gave her a hug.

"Goodnight, May."

"Goodnight, Ash."

It was an unusually long hug, but May didn't care. She wished the hug was even longer. But they were tired, and had to go to sleep. So May reluctantly pulled out of the hug, and walked upstairs. Ash walked over to the air mattress and inflated it. He laid down, ready to go to sleep, when he remembered that he still had to speak with Lucario.

"Ughh... dammit. Let's just get it over with." thought Ash aloud as he grabbed Lucario and Charizard's pokeballs. "Charizard, Lucario, come on, let's talk."

Charizard and Lucario materialized in front of Ash. Lucario sat down on the opposite side of bed while Charizard laid down.

"Alright, let's talk about what we saw today. First of all, what do you think about that dark energy?" asked Ash.

_"... Master, there is something I must tell you about." _said Lucario, in a tone even more serious than usual.

"What?" asked Ash.

_"I don't know why, but the information that I am about to tell you has been in my mind for as long as I can remember. First of all, I know the name of this energy that our foes were utilizing today. It is called Negative Aura."_

"Negative Aura?"

_"Yes. I shall start from the beginning. In the beginning, Aura was created. The original Aura was violet in color. The power and capabilities of the original Aura were immense. Mankind eventually learned to harness the power of Aura, and used it to better the world and bring about peace. These people were known as the first Aura Guardians. They were strong believers in justice and truth, but as we know, nothing good can possibly last forever. Eventually the hearts of some Aura Guardians became corrupt and evil. The number of corrupt Aura Guardians soon rivaled the amount of pure Aura Guardians. When their numbers were enough, the corrupt Aura Guardians, who called themselves Aura Warlords, declared civil war on the Aura Guardians."  
_

"Damn. That's interesting. Go on." said Ash.

_"The war was a long one. After years of fighting, the Aura Guardians numbers began to dwindle, while the Aura Warlords increased in number. The situation looked bleak. But then, out of the cosmos, came Arceus, the creator of the original Aura, and our world. He obliterated every Aura Warlord, and sealed their leader, Master Brecht, and his Lucario, in an alternate dimension, for 100,000 years._

_The Aura Guardians rejoiced, praising Arceus for what he had done. But Arceus' work was not finished. He decided that the power of Aura was too powerful for mortal hands. Using his vast power, he split the power of Aura in two weaker forms; Negative Aura and Positive Aura, the latter of which he gave to the Aura Guardians. With his work done, Arceus departed. But before he left, he gave the Aura Guardians a prophecy."  
_

"A prophecy?" asked Ash.

_"Yes. I shall recite it now.  
_

_100,000 years shall pass, and great evil shall rise again._

_The great evil will work with the fallen hero, and the vanishing man._

_But fear not, for the Master of Legend shall rise, a savior of all men._

_Bearing Aura blue in color, skin colored tan._

_He shall slay the great evil, both Auras in hand._

_And bring peace forever more."_

Ash sat quietly, taking in all of the information he had just absorbed.

"So if my assumptions are correct, you think I'm the Master of Legend?" asked Ash.

_"Correct." _replied Lucario.

"So, why have you not told me any of this in the past 5 years we've lived and trained together?"

_"I was not sure whether you were the Master of Legend or not. You could have just been a prodigy that I stumbled upon. But now that I've seen the Negative Aura today, and how your body was invigorated by a surge of the Original Aura, I am positive you are the Master of Legend."_

"So that's what the purple light was?"

_"Yes."_

"Well, I guess we have our work cut out for us. I was hoping everything could go back to normal after today, but clearly I was wrong." said Ash.

_"Indeed. We have a perilous quest ahead of us."_

"I'm fine with going on a quest, but first of all, we need a lead on where we can find this Master Brecht dude. We also need to find 'The fallen hero" and "the vanishing man'."

_"Yes, but we can focus on all of that tomorrow. Let's all get a good night's sleep."_

"Yeah, you're right. Goodnight, Lucario." said Ash as he returned Lucario to his pokeball. Ash turned to Charizard, who had fallen asleep. "Hey buddy, wake up. Can you use Ember on the fireplace? It's kinda chilly in here."

Charizard grumbled in response and spat a few embers at the wood in the fireplace. The fire roared to life.

"Thanks bud." said Ash as he returned Charizard to his pokeball. Ash then laid down, finally ready to go to sleep, when he heard something. He sat up and saw what looked like May slowly walking down the stairs. It was hard to tell if it was her or not, since the lights were off. The only light provided was moonlight and the fire in the fireplace. It also looked like she was trying her best not to make any sounds as she made her way to the living room.

"Ash... Are you awake?" she whispered.

"Yep."

"Mind if I join you?"

"I don't mind." said Ash quietly.

May sat next to Ash, and they stared at the fire, silent for about 5 minutes. Then Ash examined May's face, and she looked like she was holding back emotions. To confirm his suspicions, Ash quickly read her aura to find that she was holding back lots of sadness. Ash thought that asking her would be the best option.

"What's wrong May... you don't look too good..." asked Ash.

'Nothing, I'm fine."

"Okay... so how did you spend the last five years?" asked Ash. "Did you miss me?" he said with a playful smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

May chuckled at first, but then her expression darkened. "I've missed you so much. When you 'died', I didn't know what to do. I refused to believe it at first. I kept on telling myself you were alive somewhere out there. Countless search parties were sent out, but none of them came back with you. I soon lost hope. I made some horrible decisions, and did terrible things to myself... I eventually ended up in a mental health facility... I was just released from it 5 months ago. I still have to take my daily medications to deal with the depression and bipolar disorder I've developed. I've missed you too much Ash... to the point of insanity." she said. Tears began to stream down her face, but she wiped them off, not wanting to cause a commotion.

Ash pulled her into a loving embrace, holding her til she calmed down.

"May, I've missed you too, even though I didn't remember you. You have no idea how many nights I spent staring at the stars, trying to remember my past life, and who "May" was... It was maddening. I wanted to go back and find you, and put my life back together, but training had to come first... there's some bad stuff happening, and I have to stop it." said Ash.

"*sniffle* what kind of *sniffle* bad stuff?" asked May.

"Don't worry about it. Just know that no matter what, I'll always be alive, and I'll always come back to you. Never believe I'm dead until you've seen it with your own eyes."

Ash continued to hold on to May for a few more minutes. Finally, she had calmed down and pulled herself out of his hug. She was finally able to speak without sniffling.

"I...I love you Ash. I love you more than anything." said May quietly.

"I love you too, May. That's why your name was the only thing I remembered. It was the only thing I was missing in my life. I promise, you'll never have to go through so much pain again. I'll always protect you. No matter wha-"

Ash was cut off by May's lips crashing into his. Ash was taken aback by the pure love and passion in the kiss. He immediately responded by returning the kiss with just as much passion, maybe more. May began to stroke Ash's jet black hair as the kiss intensified. Both of them were operating from pure instinct. The kiss was intoxicating, but they both needed to breathe, so they both reluctantly separated their lips.

While catching his breath, Ash glanced at May, who was also catching her breath. Ash examined her body. She had only grown a few inches, not nearly as tall as he was. She had gotten curvier, and her hair had grown so long it fell more than half way down her back. Her eyes were a beautiful electric blue. She had developed 5 or 10 freckles on each cheek of her face, which Ash thought was adorable. She had the perfect hourglass figure, and perfect legs. Her arms were amazing, thin and covered in... scars?

"May... what happened?" said Ash, gesturing towards her arms.

May saw what he gestured at and folded her arms to hide her self-inflicted scars.

"I told you... I did terrible things to myself..." said May quietly.

Ash took hold of both her arms and examined the scars.

"Hmmm..." hummed Ash. He then took one of May's hands and held it with one hand. He placed his other hand on her wrist.

"Ash, what are you-"

"Shh... just watch."

Ash channeled his Positive Aura into his hand that was touching her wrist. When he had collected enough, he slowly slid his palm up her arm. Ash's hand began to erase May's scars like an eraser removing chalk from a chalkboard. Within seconds, May's right arm was completely free of scars for the first time in years. May was beyond speechless. Ash then did the same to her other arm. May hugged Ash with tears in her eyes. She hugged him so powerfully that he fell over and landed on his back, with May on top of him.

"Thank you so much Ash... you don't know how much this means..." said May happily.

"Anything for my... girlfriend." said Ash sweetly.

May never got off of Ash though. He was going to speak but heard a light snore coming from her. Ash decided to let her stay like that. He enjoyed the feeling of her on him. Soon Ash fell asleep as well. And just like that, May and Ash spent the night, with the small flames of the fire and moonlight providing the only lighting for the scene.

* * *

The next morning, May awoke, still on top of Ash, her new boyfriend. She sighed a sigh of relief and joy. The future looked bright. But she couldn't help but think about what Ash meant when he said "there's some bad stuff happening." She decided that she would ask him about it again later in the day. May went up to Ash's room and looked at the clock. It was 7:26. May wondered why she was awake so early, but she shrugged, and grabbed her towel and took a shower.

Once she got out of the shower, she brushed her teeth. After that, she went back to Ash's room. She changed into some comfortable clothes and dried her hair. Her daily routine was almost done. There was just one more step. Her medications. May opened the side pocket of her bag and took out two pill bottles. She opened each bottle and took one pill from each. One was her anti-depressant, while the other one subdued her Bipolar Disorder. She popped both pills in her mouth and swallowed them.

With her daily routine finished, she decided to go downstairs and watch some TV to pass the time till Ash woke up. She made her way to the living room quietly, to avoid waking up Max or Mimey. She sat quietly on the couch, making sure to not wake up Ash, who was sleeping just a few feet away from her on his air mattress. She grabbed the remote control, and when the TV turned on, it was on the news channel.

May half expected to see what she saw on the news. The news was covering the damage that was done by Ash and Giovanni's battle. The FBI came to the conclusion that it must have been some kind of terrorist attack. May rolled her eyes and waited for the next story to come up.

A few minutes later, May screamed.

On the screen was May AND Max's house. On fire.

* * *

**Whew! Damn, sorry for updating 2 days later than I said I would. I was almost done with this chapter, but then my computer restarted itself to install updates. I didn't get to save before that, so a lot of this chapter was erased. You can imagine how aggravating that was. A real blow to my motivation. But I knew I couldn't keep my awesome followers waiting for too long, so I decided to get over it and write the chapter all over again. I hope you enjoyed it! Leave me some reviews on what you think! Bye!**

**~DarkSlash9**


	7. Chapter 7

**Howdy y'all! DarkSlash9 reporting for duty! This chapter is a little more on the action side, which some of you might not like. Sorry bout that. Don't worry though, the next chapter's gonna be alot more romantic. I promise.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: Pokemon is not mine bro.**

* * *

Ash woke up as soon as he heard May scream. He sat up immediately and saw May shaking, with a horrified look on her face. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she wasn't sobbing or weeping. Just sitting, distraught. Ash tiredly up and walked over to her. He then sat next to her on the couch and put an arm around her.

"May? What happened?" he said groggily.

May did not respond. Instead her hand slowly and shakily pointed to the TV screen, which was on the Channel 8 News. Ash, still not fully awake, had to squint his eyes to see what was on the screen. What he saw horrified him. It was May and Max's house, with bright flames dancing all over it. To make matters even worse, the Headline read: _BREAKING NEWS: Local Petalburg Gym Leader and wife burn to death in inextinguishable blaze._

"Oh my God... how did thi-"

"Geez, what's all the commotion about guys? It's not even 9 AM yet!" said Max, as he entered the living room tiredly. "I heard someone scream and I..."

Max's sentence was left unfinished when he saw what was on the TV screen. However, instead of going into a state of shock like May did, Max had a very different reaction. His face turned red, and his fists were clenched. His eyes began to tear up, and he tried his best to fight off the tears that were threatening to fall.

"_Who_ did this?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean 'who did this'? It must have been an accident..." said Ash, who still had his arm around May, who was still in a trance.

Max looked at Ash as if he were stupid.

"There's no such thing as an 'inextinguishable fire'... and if there is, how could my parents have started it?! _Someone_ or _something_ set our house on fire! Look at those flames! Those aren't natural looking at all! There's something fishy about this! We are going to find out who or what did this, and I will personally beat the shit out of them!" said Max, his anger growing with each word.

"Max, I think you should calm dow-"

"No. He's right." said May, interrupting Ash.

May's voice startled both Ash and Max. They thought that she would just stay in her trance, unaware of what was going on. But what surprised them even more was the side May took. Max and Ash didn't expect May to pick the side of revenge. That seemed a little... dark compared to her usual thought processes.

"May?" asked Ash.

"Yes. I know someone did this. I feel it." said May darkly.

Ash, now fully awake, stared at May. Something was... off about her. She wasn't being herself. But Ash came to the conclusion that the death of loved ones so abruptly could do that to some people.

"You guys... Are you sure about this?" asked Ash cautiously. While most people would respond to the death of their parents with tears and sadness, May and Max were responding with Anger and Revenge. Ash made a mental note of that.

"Positive." they both said in unison.

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to go investigate the scene of the fire..." said Ash. "Hold on guys, I'm going to go brush my teeth. Be back in a sec... don't worry guys. If there is someone behind this, I'll make sure to end them."

Ash walked up the stairs, thinking. He entered to bathroom and opened a drawer to reveal a box of new toothbrushes. He took one, put toothpaste on it, and began to brush.

_"Max was right... that fire was definitely not normal now that I think of it... It actually kinda looked like... oh my God. Could it have been Negative Aura?!"  
_thought Ash.

_"Indeed it was." _said a voice in Ash's head.

_"Lucario? Is that you? How are you speaking to me while in your pokeball?" _asked Ash.

_"Our minds are linked eternally. No man-made creation can stop that." _said Lucario_. "But anyway, that was indeed a fire started by Negative Aura. Notice there was no smoke emerging from the fire. Negative Aura has the appearance of fire, but is sub-zero in temperature. And of course, no type of Aura can be extinguished by water."_

_"I can't believe this! Why would Master Brecht and his cronies go after May's parents?! She has nothing to do with this!" _replied Ash furiously.

_"Master, she plays quite a large role actually. Have you ever read Miss May's Aura Signature?"  
_

_"What's an Aura Signature?" _asked Ash.

_"It is what type of Aura a person has the potential to use. You do not know this skill because up until recently, you thought there was only one type of Aura."_

_"So what's May's Aura Signature?"  
_

_"Negative."_

_"WHAT?!"_

_"It does not mean she is evil. It just means that she has the dormant ability to use it. Master, Negative Aura is not evil. It just so happens that evil people put it to use, believing it to be superior to Positive Aura." _said Lucario.

_"This still doesn't explain why the Aura Warlords would attack May's house."  
_

_"Aura Warlords believe that Negative Aura is evil. They must have found out Miss May's Aura signature, and are planning on creating enough pain and turmoil in her life to awaken the Negative Aura within. By awakening her spiritual powers in such a destructive way, she will, without a doubt, become evil."_

_"I see... so they want to turn my love interest into my enemy, which would weaken my resolve to destroy the Aura Warlords, because that would mean destroying her as well."  
_

_"Indeed."_

_"Well then, all we have to do is awaken May's powers through training, instead of tragedies. If her powers are born through work and not sadness, she'll stay good, right?"_

_"I believe so."_

_"Alright! If May we awaken her powers, She'll be able to defend herself! Which means she could go with us on our journey!"_

_"Yes. That would be..."  
_

Lucario's sentence was cut off by the gravity around Ash increasing.

"Well, it seems an Aura Warlord wants a fight." thought Ash aloud. "Judging by the gravity increase, this one's a tad bit stronger than Giovanni. Actually... it feels like there's more than one."

_"Would you like the assistance of Charizard and I?" _asked Lucario.

"Nah, They're not THAT powerful. I'll just-"

Ash's sentence was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. Ash looked out of the window and saw the Pokemon Laboratory erupt into flames. Negative Aura flames. Ash wasted no time running downstairs. he instead jumped out of the window. An new set of Aura Guardian attire materialized onto his body in mid-air. But it was not his normal cloak. Instead, it was and all black sleeveless turtleneck top, black cargo pants, navy blue gloves with black steel knuckles, shoes, and a navy blue cape that came with a hood. Lucario's pokeball also materialized attached to Ash's belt.

_"Damn, thanks for the new clothes Lucario! I look like a badass." _thought Ash, as he landed safely on the ground and began running towards the Pokemon Laboratory.

_"I decided to give your attire a more modern twist." _said Lucario. "_Glad you like it."_

When Ash arrived at the pokemon center, there was no one there. The building was slowly being destroyed by the cold flames of Negative Aura. Then, out of the flames emerged a badly bruised, bloody and shivering Tracey Sketchit. He stumbled out of the building, and collapsed on the ground. Ash ran over to his old traveling companion.

"Tracey! Hang in there!" yelled Ash as he began to heal Tracey.

"Ughh... Ash... you really are alive..." said Tracey in a weak, pained voice. "I... saw you on TV at the... tournament... but I thought it was fake... It's good to see you...arggghh...!"

"Stop speaking! You're hurting yourself. We can talk later!" said Ash.

"It's... *cough* too late for me... at least I'll *cough* die knowing you're alive... *cough cough cough*" said Tracey, more blood coming out with every cough.

"No! You wont die! You cant!"

No response came from Tracey. Ash checked his pulse. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be in a few minutes.

"Crap..." said Ash.

Ash stood up and grabbed Lucario's pokeball from his belt.

"Lucario, come on out." said Ash as he tossed the ball to the ground, releasing Lucario. "I need you to heal him while I get to the bottom of this."

Lucario nodded his head in response. As Lucario began to heal Tracey some more, Ash gazed into the pokemon lab. He then cleared his throat, and yelled.

"I know you're in there! I can sense it! Show yourself!"

There was silence. Then, footsteps were soon heard, and 5 figures emerged from the flames, unscathed. 2 were Dark Lucarios, while the other three's faced were concealed by red hooded cloaks that covered their faces. One of them was shorter than the other two, by a lot.

"Damn, there's a lot of you." said Ash. "Doesn't matter though, I'll take down all five of you, no sweat."

More silence. Ash was about to speak, when he heard something he never expected.

"To take over the world without hesitation," said said one of the hooded figures, in a cold, female voice.

"To kill all peoples against our nation." said another cloaked figure, this one with a deeper voice.

"To slaughter the believers of truth and love," said the woman.

"To send clouds of blood to the stars above." said the man darkly.

"Jesse." said the woman monotonously as she pulled off her hood.

"James." said the man seriously as he took off his hood as well.

"And Persian." said the final hooded figure, as it took off its cloak revealing a talking Persian, which stood on it's hind legs.

"No way..." said Ash in awe.

"Team Torture murders at the speed of light." said Jesse, who's eyes had red irises.

"Your death is coming unless you fight." said James, who's irises were also red.

"Dat's right." said Meowth, who had evolved into a Persian. "Long time no see, Twerp."

Before Ash could even reply, the two Dark Lucarios present lunged at Ash. He Jumped into the air, Dodging both attacks. Jesse, James and Meowth stood still. Ash noticed that the Dark Lucarios that Team Rocket/Team Torture had were not nearly as strong as Giovanni's. Ash decided that he should eliminate the Lucarios first, then concentrate on Team Torture.

The Dark Lucarios recovered from their failed attempt and tried again. This time, Ash dodged one, while the other was able to latch onto his arm. Realizing that this was a dangerous situation, Ash formed an Aura Sword from his hand, effectively stabbing a hole through the Dark Lucario as soon as it materialized. The Dark Lucario let go of Ash's arm, and stumbled to the ground.

"One down, four to go." said Ash to himself.

Ash glanced over to Team Murder to see if they had any reactions to the death of one of their Dark Lucarios. Persian and Jesse seemed fine, but James seemed quite agitated by it.

"Jesse, I'm entering the battle _now_." growled James.

"Don't be an idiot James. Alone, we cant touch the Twerp. But our combined powers outmatch Giovanni's. If you go in without me, he'll kill you. Let's just wait and see how my Dark Lucario fares against him. With it's special ability, It'll be quite a hassle for him." said Jesse coldly.

"...Fine." said James.

Jesse and James returned their gazes to the fight, where Ash was struggling to land a hit on Jesse's Dark Lucario. Whenever he would come up with a solid plan and go through with it, the Dark Lucario would always dodge. it was insanely fast. Faster than Giovanni's. Ash was getting very frustrated.

"How the hell is this thing so fast!?" Ash thought aloud, as he dodged a Negative Aura Sphere.

"Allow me to explain, Twerp." interrupted Jesse. "You see, some high-ranking Aura Warlord-Dark Lucario pairs are given special abilities by our Emperor, Master Brecht. These abiliti-"

"High-ranking? You goons are high-ranking?" asked Ash, who was currently using both hands as Aura Guns, shooting hundreds of bullets from both pointer fingers. The Dark Lucario dodged each and every bullet easily.

"Shut it, Twerp. Like I was saying, these abilities are given to us based on what our job is. We are the assassins of the Aura Warlords, therefore my Dark Lucario and I have been given the power of super speed." said Jesse.

"So what does James have?!" asked Ash as he attempted to dodge a barrage of punches sent by Jesse's Dark Lucario. He then glanced over to where Team Torture was standing, and he saw James's body disappear. Then, in the blink of an eye, James body reappeared right in front of Ash.

"Instant Transportation." said James quietly before he punched Ash in the face.

Ash staggered back, but regained his composure. Meanwhile, Jesse was not too pleased with James' actions.

"James you fool! I told you not to go in without me!" yelled Jesse.

"Sorry, couldn't help it." said James as he teleported back to Jesse and Persian.

"Ya gotta be careful. It don't look like da Twerp's even tryin' yet. I think he's holdin' back on us." said Persian.

Jesse and James examined Ash's actions against Jesse's Dark Lucario closer and noticed that Ash indeed was not fighting full power. He wasn't toying with them, but he wasn't really going all out either.

"Listen Twerp, quit holding back. We know you've got a lot more power hidden inside you. Don't think that we're weak, because together, Team Torture's skills trump Giovanni's. So we won't be as easy to defeat. Going full power is your only chance." said James.

"Well, it seems you guys got smarter in the last five years. I didn't think you'd see through my act. I dont like going over 20% of my maximum strength if I don't have to. But it seems like 20% isn't enough to deal with you guys. I guess 40% will do." said Ash he dodged a kick by Jesse's Dark Lucario.

"20%?! Da Twerps only been usin' 20%?!" exclaimed Persian, astounded.

"Oh calm down Persian. He's clearly bluffing." said Jesse, unaffected my Ash's words.

"Am I bluffing?" said Ash as Jesse's Dark Lucario approached Ash for another attack.

The Dark Lucario jumped in the air and prepared to perform and Aura Kick. But before the attack could begin, Ash jumped up with amazing speed, tackling the Dark Lucario.

"WHAT?!" yelled Jesse in disbelief. "How could he have tackled it?! It should have been impossible! My Dark Lucario would have dodged!"

"H-his speed... it-it's even faster than yours!" stuttered James.

Jesse began to panic. Was Ash really only going 20% the whole time? If he's only been using 20%, the thought of him using 40% sent chills down Jesse's body.

"Wh-what now Jesse?" asked James.

"Well, If he's really only going 20%, lets kill him before he has the chance to go any higher."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. I do. I have to use it." said Jesse. "Dark Lucario! Use our ultimate technique! Negative Storm!" yelled Jesse.

The Dark Lucario grumbled in response and released itself from Ash's tackle. It immediately surrounded its whole body and Negative Aura and began running around Ash as fast as it could. Soon, a small tornado of Negative Aura began to circle around Ash.

"As powerful as that stuck-up Twerp has become, there's no way he'll emerge from that attack without a few broken bones and bruises. He'll be weakened, and that's when you and I will enter the battle and finish him off with our signature assassination combo, the Charge Smash. Got that James?" said Jesse.

"Yes."

"Hey! Whadda bout me guys?! I wanna beat da Twerp up a bit too!" yelled Persian angrily.

"Shut up Persian, why don't you go deal with the Twerp's Lucario over there? He's healing that guy we attacked." said Jesse.

"Fine..." grumbled Persian as he slowly trudged over to Lucario and Tracey.

When Lucario saw Persian approaching him, he prepared himself for battle. He had healed Tracey to the point that his injuries were no longer fatal, so healing him was not as much as priority as it was before. Lucario placed Tracey's body leaning against a tree, away from harm.

"So, you're da Twerp's Lucario eh?" asked Persian.

_"I have no need to explain my identity to a freak like you."_

"Hmph. Freak or not, I'm still gonna slice dat neck of yours to pieces."

_"I'd like to see you_ try." said Lucario as he punched Persian in the face, beginning their fight.

They they both threw multiple punches and kicks, both dodging them all. Their battle was solely fought with hands and feet, no powers used. But soon, the Fighting Type inside Lucario took over and Lucario obtained the upper hand. It became very clear Persian did not stand a chance.

_"You cannot defeat me. My fighting prowess is several levels higher than yours."_

"Even if I don't beat ya, you'll still die. Cuz once Jesse and James kill the Twerp, you'll die as well!"

_"I don't think that plan of yours is going too well." _said Lucario as he pointed to the direction of Ash and the rest of Team Torture's battle.

Much to Persian's horror, there stood Ash, with only a small cut on his arm, with Jesse's Dark Lucario dead at his feet. Persian immediately ran over to Jesse and James, leaving his battle with Lucario unfinished. But before he could reach Jesse and James, they both engaged Ash in combat, putting their plan into action. Jesse charged towards Ash as fast as she could, which caused him jump into the air. James began channeling as much Negative Aura as he could into his hands.

"_What are they planning?" _thought Ash, still in the air.

Ash looked around for James, but couldn't find him.

"Say goodnight, Twerp." was all Ash heard before he was smashed down towards the ground by James, who had teleported behind him. The pain Ash experienced was excruciating. Not only was it a powerful smash, it was also charged with Negative Aura, which made it all the more painful.

"Shit..." said Ash as the icy pain intensified with every second.

Instead of teleporting away, James burst into a fit of laughter. Even though he was injured, Ash saw this as a chance to land a blow against James. As he plummeted to the ground, quickly charged a powerful Aura Sphere and fired it straight towards James. The attack connected to James head, blowing it clean off. James body fell to the ground at the same time Ash's did.

_"Master!" _yelled Lucario as he began to run over to Ash. But before he could reach his fallen master, Persian attacked him with a Scratch attack, resuming their battle.

Jesse was horrified. But her horror was quickly dismissed by a new emotion. Rage.

"That's it Twerp. Time to die." she said in a voice cold as ice.

Jesse began walking towards Ash, who was still dealing with the pain of James' attack.

"Dammit... really wish I brought Charizard." muttered Ash to himself as he struggled to get back up.

The closer Jesse got, the more Ash struggled to get up. The situation seemed bleak.

_"Damn, I've got to think of something, fast!" _thought Ash.

"It's over." said Jesse as she finally arrived in front of Ash.

"No it's not!" yelled an unknown voice. The voice sounded strained, as if the person was lifting a heavy weight while they were speaking.

Before Jesse could even respond, a poorly made Negative Aura Sphere came flying her way. Jesse dodged it with ease.

Everybody looked to see where the weak attack had come from. Even Lucario and Persian had paused their battle to see who had fired the attack. When he saw who it was, Ash's heart nearly stopped. Standing alone, breathing heavily from the attack she just fired, was May Maple.

* * *

**Whew! That might have been the most stressful chapter I have ever written. Sorry for the long wait, I made several different possibilities for this chapter, but none of them felt right, including this one. I ended up having my older sister read all three different scenarios and having her choose the best one. She chose this one. I apologize for the lack of romance in this chapter, but as I said before, the next chapter will be more on the romantic side. **

**Oh yeah, In my stories, a Lucario dies when it's master dies. I know that's not what happens in Pokemon, but I need it to be that way for this story.**

**With the holidays out of the way, the next chapter won't take nearly as long as this one did. I, once again, apologize for the long wait.  
**

**In other news, I have decided that this fic will be 20 chapters long, and there will be a sequel to it. **

**Leave me some reviews if you'd like, and if you feel like there's anything I should improve, leave me some constructive criticism. Not to be confused with flaming. Flames hurt.**

**Catch ya later!**

**~DarkSlash9**


	8. Chapter 8

**Woooohooooo! Over 50 followers! To be honest, I didn't really expect this fic to actually, y'know, be well liked and followed. Thanks everyone, means alot.  
**

**Anyway, so this chapter's gonna be pretty eventful, I think. Enjoy!  
**

**By the way, it is currently Autumn in this story, so the weather is warm sometimes, and chilly at others.**

**And finally, I know I promised this would be a more romantic chapter than the last, but as it turns out, it's not. I wrote a more romantic version of this chapter, and let my older sister read it. She said it would make more sense for the next chapter to be romantic, not this one. -_-so the next chapter will be romantic. I SUPER PROMISE. No matter what my sister says.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own pokemon.**

* * *

_15 minutes earlier...  
_

"Where the heck's Ash?! It does not take this long to brush teeth! Even worse, there's a draft in here! Cold air is getting in from somewhere!" growled Max.

"Calm down Max... Just go upstairs and check on him." said May.

Max did as he was told. When he entered the bathroom, he found the window open.

"Well, that explains the draft..." muttered Max to himself. "Where's Ash though..."

Max walked over to go close the window, but when he looked out the window, he saw something down the street. The pokemon lab was on "fire".

"Mayyyy! I think you should see this..." called Max.

A few seconds later May entered the bathroom.

"What is it? Did you find Ash?"

"No I didn't, but take a look at _that._" said Max as he pointed to the small tornado of red energy. "Doesn't that fire look just like the type that destroyed our house?"

"Yeah..." said May.

"I think it's safe to say Ash is probably over there investigating it." said Max.

"Let's check it out." said May.

"May, that's a horrible idea. We wont be able to defend ourselves if something goes wrong. We don't have our pokemon. We left them at home... which means they're probably... dead." said Max glumly.

"...We can defend ourselves." said May quietly.

"You don't mean-"

"Yeah... I'll only use it if I have to."

"Are you sure you still remember how to use it?"

"I think so." said May.

May outstretched her palm and closed her eyes. At first, nothing appeared. But a minute or two later, a small flame of Negative Aura began to dance across her palm.

"Yeah, I can still use it." said May.

"You know, you gotta tell Ash eventually..." said Max, who left the room.

"Shut up Max." grumbled May as she followed Max out of the bathroom.

May and Max changed out of their pajamas and changed into clothing suitable for the slightly chilly weather outside. They were about to leave, when Mimey entered the room.

"Mime... Mime Mime?" asked Mimey sadly.

"Don't worry Mimey, we're not going back to Hoenn. We're going out for a walk." said Max kindly.

"Mime mime!" yelled Mimey in glee as he skipped back to his room.

"Now that that's over, let's go, Max." said May as she opened the door.

"Let's just hope nothing crazy happens..."

"Yeah... I know." said May quietly as she and Max left the Ketchum household.

* * *

_15 minutes later..._

Ash was speechless. His vocal chords refused to vibrate. He was locked in a state of shock. May, who was still out of breath from the Aura Sphere she fired, noticed Ash's face.

"*breathe*We'll *breathe* talk about this *breathe* later." said May to Ash.

Even though May had spoken to Ash, he was still unable to speak. That all changed when Max walked over and slapped Ash's face a couple times to snap him out of it.

"Oww... what the hell, Max?" said Ash angrily.

"It had to be done. Now, before you go asking May if she's evil and all, I'll tell you now. She's not. She doesn't like using that stuff, and she doesn't like people knowing about it. The only person she's ever told is me." replied Max.

"How long has she had it?" asked Ash.

"I've never asked. You're going to have to ask her that one yourself once this is over." replied Max.

"Mmhhmm." hummed Ash in response.

While Ash and Max were talking, Jesse was staring hard at May.

"Hmmmm... who are you... you look familiar, but I cant find your name..." muttered Jesse.

"May," said May, who had caught her breath, "May Maple."

"Ahhhhh, Twerpette!" said Jesse, remembering her nickname for all of Ash's female companions. "You're the Twerp's little Hoenn girlfriend. Which means..." said Jesse as she looked around. Her eyes saw an injured Ash with Max next to him, Lucario dominating his fight with Persian, Tracey's body leaned against a tree, and James' corpse. But only one thing mattered to her. Max.

Before May could even react, Jesse dashed towards Max and grabbed him by the collar.

"Get the hell off of me!" yelled Max in protest.

"Sorry Twerp Jr., I cant. You see, I wasn't told to, but I'm sure Master Brecht will be pleased if I kidnap you."

"Why me?!"

"Why do I need to tell you? I'm sure the Twerp over here knows exactly why." said Jesse, gesturing towards Ash.

But instead of letting Max ask Ash what was happening, she pulled Max away.

"Put him down, _now._" demanded May.

"Okay, if you say so!" said Jesse, who smashed Max's face to the ground, breaking his glasses. She then conjured a thick cylinder of Negative Aura around him to act as a prison. A prison he could not see or hear through.

Ash knew that he had to get back up and fight. He tried to get up countless times, but sharp, icy pain would course throughout his body every time.

_"Arrghh... what kind of attack did James use on me?! I have to do something! May doesn't stand a chance against Jesse! Oh! I_ _know_!" thought Ash.

Ash gathered up his willpower and gathered enough mental strength to sit up, despite the pain. Now, he had a better view of what was going on. He began to charge an Aura Sphere.

_"I've only got one shot. If Jesse dodges, I'll lose the element of surprise." _thought Ash.

May saw what Ash was doing, and tried to stall Jesse.

"Why did you blow up the Pokemon Lab?! Why do you want Max?!" asked May. Stalling or not, May wanted the answers to those questions.

"Well Twerpette, Team Torture was assigned the mission by the head of our three leaders, Master Brecht. One of our many targets reside there. Gary Oak. He's considered a small threat based off of the training prowess he's shown in the past. So we were ordered to kill him. But it seems he's not here. So we decided to just blow up his lab instead. It just so happened that that loser over there [points of Tracey] was inside the building."

"So you've been wiping out all the world's skilled trainers in the world... which means..."

"Yes Twerpette, I killed your father, a gym leader. Your mother too." said Jesse with a cruel smirk. "Master Brecht sent me alone to go kill him. He put up a pretty good fight too, but he ended up-" Jesse paused to dodge the Aura Sphere Ash had finally fired.

"DAMMIT!" yelled Ash in frustration.

"Like I was saying, He put up a good fight, but he ended up dying a painful death!" said Jesse.

"You... YOU MONSTER!" screamed May as she ran straight towards Jesse.

Jesse smiled, knowing that May didn't stand a chance against her. May approached her, ready to punch her in the face. But before May's fist could even begin to move, Jesse, using her super speed, delivered a powerful punch to May's stomach. May's body flew backwards 10 feet, and crashed into Ash, knocking him out of the sitting up position he struggled so much to acquire.

"Owww... May! Are you okay?!" asked Ash.

May sat up, coughing up blood as she did.

"No... *cough* definitely not okay..." replied May. "I don't think I can get up..."

"Well, well, well Twerps, it seems our battle has come to an end. It's a shame I can't kill you both. I think The Three Emperors would be very happy to know you're in our custody."

"What do you want with May and Max?!" asked Ash.

"Oh, you know. Don't play dumb Twerp."

Silence from Ash. Ash was incredibly angry with himself. So far, he was doing a terrible job at being the Master of Legend. If he was losing to some measly assassins, how could he possibly take on a whole empire? In Ash's mind, he had already failed. He had failed everyone. His mother, his pokemon, his friends, and most of all, May.

"Ash... what do we *cough* do now?" asked May. "It can't end like this..."

_"Lucario! We kinda need your help!" _thought Ash.

_"I'm coming Master!" _replied Lucario as he landed a devastating kick on Persian's head, knocking him out.

Lucario ran towards Jesse, who was walking towards Ash and May.

"_Foul woman, I shall not allow you to proceed any closer to my Master!" _spoke Lucario as he charged an Aura Sphere with one hand.

"Oh please, taking care of you will be easy!" laughed Jesse as she quickly fired a Negative Aura Sphere towards Lucario.

Lucario dodged, but did not dodge fast enough. The Negative Aura Sphere hit his arm, causing him to howl in pain. And just like what happened to Riley's Lucario, Lucario began to disintegrate, starting from his arm.

"What the..." muttered Ash as his Lucario began to slowly disappear. "Lucario! What's going on?!"

Lucario could not response, as the pain was too much to bear. But suddenly, it stopped. The disintegration paused for a second, then reversed itself, causing the parts of Lucario's body that disintegrated to materialize.

"H-how?!" exclaimed a shocked Jesse. "When a Positive Lucario comes into contact with Negative Aura, it's supposed to fully disintegrate! Why would it stop?!"

As soon as Lucario's body materialized, he fell onto the ground, unable to move, with swirls for eyes.

"Lucario...?" said Ash.

"I don't know what just happened, but it looks like your Lucario fainted. Anyway, it's time to end this, for real this time. I think I'll start by killing the Twerp, and taking the Twerpette and her brother into custody." said Jesse. "It'll be tough finding a replacement for James though... Maybe Butch or Cassidy could take the position... whatever, that's not what matters right now. Anyway, time to die, Twerp!"

The situation, once again, seemed bleak. Max was imprisoned, May was internally bleeding, Ash could barely move, and Lucario was knocked out.

"Ash..."

"May..."

"I'll always love you Ash. No matter what happens. You and only you. *cough cough*" said May as she used what little strength she had to pull Ash into a loving hug.

"May, this is my fault. I've failed both you and Max... please, forgive me." said Ash.

"Ahhh shut up Twerp!" yelled Jesse as she kicked Ash off of May.

Ash wailed in pain. May began to cry. It really was over. There was nobody around to help. Gary was on his honeymoon with Dawn, Brock and Misty were in Pewter City, and Charizard was still in his ball at Ash's house.

"And now, the grand finale!" laughed Jesse, as she charged a Negative Aura Sphere, aiming it right towards Ash's head.

Ash closed his eyes, and May turned away. Jesse's attack was ready to be fired.

_"Goodbye, May." _thought Ash.

...

Suddenly, the sky darkened with storm clouds. Bolts of lightning danced between each cloud, Causing static electricity to spark throughout the air. Ash opened his eyes to see what was going on. His hairs were beginning to stand on end, and he looked over, and so were May's. He then looked up at Jesse, who was staring at the sky.

"What the hell is going on?" thought Jesse aloud.

Silence. All thunder ceased. All the lightning bolts dancing in the darkened skies disappeared. Absolute silence... until it was heard. A ground-shaking battle cry. It echoed loudly, for everyone to hear.

"PIIIIKKAAAAA...CHUUUUUUUUUU!"

At amazing speed, a gargantuan thunderbolt struck Jesse. A second after, an almighty roar of thunder rolled throughout the skies. A roar so powerful, so triumphant that one could have mistaken it as the work of Zeus' Master Bolt or Thor's Hammer. The sky then cleared after the thunder clap. A cloud of smoke formed around Jesse, and when it cleared, a Pikachu walked out of it.

"Pika." it said.

"P-Pikachu?" asked Ash.

"It can't be yours..." said May.

May was proven wrong when the Pikachu jumped onto Ash and hugged his face affectionately.

"Chaaaa!~~" sighed Ash's old friend as he embraced Ash for the first time in 5 years.

"I've missed you too buddy!" said Ash as he pet Pikachu. "Dang, you got powerful... you really saved my hide there. What was that move you used? I think I'll call it Titan Shock..."

"P-pikachu?! Where have you *cough* been? You left and never returned!" said May.

"Pikaaaa pika chu!" said Pikachu as he flexed his little muscles.

"You've been training buddy? Makes sense, you killed Jesse with a giant thunderbolt!" laughed Ash.

"I'M NOT DEAD YET TWERP." yelled Jesse, who emerged from the cloud of smoke zapped to a crisp, with her long hair standing up.

Ash's happy face immediately turned into a determined one as soon as he heard Jesse's voice. Now that Pikachu was there, Ash was sure he could win the fight. His mind went into a completely different mode. It went from Aura Guardian mode to Pokemon Trainer mode.

"Alright Pikachu, you ready?"

Pikachu got into his battle stance and emitted small sparks from his cheeks in response. May smiled. She never thought she would see the dynamic duo back together again.

"Okay, Pikachu, use Volt Tackle on Jesse."

Pikachu darted towards Jesse, charging electricity as it got closer.

"pika pika pikaaaa PIKA!" shouted Pikachu as his head collided with Jesse's stomach.

This sent Jesse staggering back. But before she could even think, Ash ordered Pikachu to follow Volt Tackle up with an Iron Tail. Pikachu did as he was told and delivered a powerful Iron Tail to Jesse's face, which knocked her onto the ground.

"Now, Pikachu, let's end this with an all-out Titan Shock!" yelled Ash.

"Pika!" replied Pikachu excitedly.

Pikachu's body became surrounded in electricity, and soon enough, the sky darkened again. Lightning danced across the clouds, and the static electricity returned. Then once again, there was silence.

"PIKAAAAA...CHUUUUUUU!" roared Pikachu as all the lightning in the clouds and the static electricity met at one single point, forming the giant thunderbolt. The bolt raced towards Jesse, but this time, time, something different happened.

A flash of white light covered the whole scene, and this time, there was no final thunder crack to signify the end of the attack. When the bright light was gone, the cause for this strange turn of events was revealed. In front of Jesse stood a tall man. He had black armor on, with red designs. His face was covered by the large red hat that he wore. But what bothered Ash and May about this man the most was that his right hand was upwards, as if he just absorbed the attack.

While May and Ash were speechless, Jesse had a few words to say.

"M-My Liege, wh-why have you come?" said Jesse as she got up and knelt before the man.

The man looked at Jesse in disgust.

"I have no recollection of Master Brecht ever giving you task of killing the Master of Legend. You buffoons were given the simple mission of assassinating Gary Oak. You were not told to blow up his laboratory, or to engage anybody except Gary Oak in battle. Do you know what the punishment for doing such things without Master Brecht's consent is?" asked the man.

"D-death, My Liege. But please, forgive us. We shall not let you down again!" begged Jesse.

"Fine. Foolish woman. The only reason I'll let you live is because you've taken Max Maple into custody, a noteworthy action. That is why I am here. To retrieve him."

"Thank you My Liege! You are ever so kind!"

"Silence. Just because I'm letting you live, doesn't mean I'm taking you and that talking Persian back with me. I'm leaving you at the mercy of the Master of Legend and his comrades." said the man as he walked towards Ash and May.

Ash didn't know what to expect. Was this new challenger going to fight him, or was he going to take Max and leave like he said?

"Who are you?" asked Ash.

"Who am I? I'm sincerely hurt Mr. Ketchum. I thought you of all people would recognize me." said the man.

Pikachu's ears perked up in recognition of the voice.

"But fine, since you don't remember me, I'll tell you who I am." said the man as he removed one of his gloves to reveal the roman numeral "II" tattooed onto his palm. "I am second in command of the Aura Warlord Empire. I answer to no one but Master Brecht himself. If you want to go by prophecy terms, I am known as The Fallen Hero. But you may know me better as..."

The man took off his hat, revealing his face.

"No way..." said Ash upon seeing the man's face.

"It cant be..." said May in awe.

"...Sir Aaron." said the man.

"Y-you can't possibly be Sir Aaron!" exclaimed Ash. "1. He's dead, and 2. He's an Aura Guardian, not an Aura Warlord!"

"Pika pika!" added Pikachu.

"I will not explain anything to you today, Mr. Ketchum. I've come on direct orders from Master Brecht himself to retrieve Max Maple. I cannot keep him waiting."

Sir Aaron walked over to the prison Max was being kept one hand, he picked up the whole prison. He then snapped his fingers, and a portal opened up next to him.

"The next time we meet Mr. Ketchum, will be on the field of battle. I'm waiting for that day! Do not disappoint me! And that Lucario of yours... is something special." said Sir Aaron as he threw Max into the portal.

The last sentence Sir Aaron said confused Ash greatly.

"Wait! What *cough* are you going to do to my brother?!" asked May.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll take very good care of him. Farewell." said Sir Aaron as he entered the portal, leaving the scene.

As soon as Sir Aaron departed, Jesse collapsed, breathing heavily. Kneeling in front of him for so long was tremendously stressful on her body. There was a long silence. Everyone was speechless. So much had happened in the last five minutes, and it had happened so fast. Neither Ash nor May expected Sir Aaron to be Master Brecht's right hand man. During the silence, Lucario woke up. He looked around, seeing that everyone was on the ground, including himself.

_"Master? What happened...? How did we survive?"_

_"My Pikachu returned to save us, I'll tell you what happened later." _replied Ash.

_"Would you like me to heal you and Miss May?" _asked Lucario.

_"Yeah, the battle's over."_

Lucario got to his feet and approached Ash and May.

"May first." said Ash.

Lucario walked over to May, who was struggling to breathe due to her constant coughing of blood. Lucario closed his eyes, and surrounded May's torso with Positive Aura. Within minutes, her breathing steadied, and her coughing ceased. Once her healing was finished, she watched as Lucario healed Ash's back. Once he was healed, Ash stood up, with Pikachu on his shoulder, and offered May a hand to help her up. May accepted the offer and allowed Ash to help her stand. Tears began to fall from May's eyes.

"Ash, what is going on?! What do these people want with me?! Why are they trying to destroy everything I love?! Please, explain! What's so special about me?! I know you have the answers! Please, I want to know everything!" cried May.

"May... I'll explain, I promise. But not now. You need rest. Tonight, I'll tell you everything." said Ash as he pulled May into a loving embrace.

May's crying soon ceased, after being held by her lover's arms. She looked over to Jesse, who was still on the ground.

"What are *sniffle* we going to do about her?" asked May.

"I think you should do it. Your parents blood is on her hands." said Ash.

May thought about it for a while. She didn't like the thought of killing someone. But her mind was telling her it was the right thing to do. For her parents.

"Okay... I'll do it." said May quietly.

May slowly walked over to Jesse, who was still breathing heavily.

"So, come to kill me, eh Twerpette?" said Jesse.

"Yes. For my mother and father." said May, as she began to form a Negative Aura Sphere.

"You won't do it. You cant do it. You don't have the courage. You'll never have the courage, or the right mindset. If you think you can go on with your weak morals, you're dead wrong. You know it's in there. The darkness within. Don't flee from it; embrace it. That's the only way you'll _ever _be able to do anything noteworthy."

"Shut up." said May.

"You've always been weak. And you'll stay weak unless you change sides. Your on the wrong side. You'll never accomplish anything where you stand now."

"Shut up!" yelled May.

"If you continue to fight your true instinct, your mother and father will not be the last of your loved ones to die!"

"SHUT UP!" screamed May, as she fired her Negative Aura Sphere, killing Jesse.

As soon as the Negative Aura Sphere made contact with Jesse's body, May's body began to faintly glow red. Ash and Lucario noticed this, and looked at each other in confusion.

"May... are you alright? You're glowing." asked Ash.

May turned to Ash and began to walk towards him.

"I don't... know..." muttered May as she passed out, landing in Ash's arms.

* * *

**Alright, now that the battle is over, the next chapter will definitely be romantic. Speaking of the romance in this story, I've opened a poll on my profile regarding whether this story will contain lemons or not. Be sure to vote! Whichever choice that has the most votes by the time the next chapter is ready will be the choice I go through with. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, review only if you want to.  
Til next time,  
**

**~DarkSlash9**

- Manage Stories 


End file.
